Wanting it All
by has3147
Summary: When Abby realizes what she wants she won't settle for less. Slight McAbby in beginning, rest it Gabby.
1. Chapter 1

My second fanfic…still learning…reviews certainly help…hope you enjoy

He was excited about seeing her tonight. He thought it was time. Tonight, he was going to ask her to marry him. He'd bought the ring last week, and had made plans to surprise her tonight. He had it all worked out, she was going to be staying with him this weekend while they fixed the plumbing in her apartment. When she got there he would have the room filled with dim light, soft music, rose pedals and candles. He'd get down on his knee, hold her hand is his, confess his love and ask her to be his. It was perfect.

It was a conversation she knew she had to have, but in no way was looking forward to it. When he had asked her what time she was coming over tonight she saw the excitement in his eyes, and felt the pain in her heart. She knew she was going to hurt him. She thought all day about what to say, and how he'd react. She wanted to be gentle with him; she knew that he felt more for her than she did him, and she recently came to the realization that she could never love him the way that he loves her, and that just wasn't fair to either of them.

She knocked at the door still unsure of how to tell him that it wasn't working out for them anymore. He opened the door for her, and when she saw what he had done, she knew she had to end this now.

He put her hands in his and lovingly walked her into the center of his living room.

"Timmy, we need to talk" she said

"You're right, we do, but let me go first" he insisted

"Tim, I really think…." She was speechless when she looked up and realized he was down on his knee.

"Oh shit this going to hurt" she said to herself "Tim…I really need to talk to you…"

"Abby" he looked into her eyes ignoring what she just said "I love you and everything about you, will you make me the happiest man and be my wife?"

She hesitates and with a tear running down her cheek pulls him up to eye level and says "I can't"

"What…wait…Abby, what are you saying?"

Thinking to herself she wonders how she missed this, she didn't see it coming. "I'm saying I can't marry you, and you don't want me to."

"I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't want to"

"Look Tim, I love you, I do"

"Then what's the problem?"

"I don't love you like you love me. I love the friendship we have, and don't want to loose that, but I think that you deserve to be loved by someone who loves you like you do me. Tim, you are a wonderful man who will make a terrific husband someday, just not mine, and just not today.

"So that's it?" he says angrily

"I'm not trying to hurt you Tim, I realize that my timing is horrible, but I had no idea you were planning this, and I think that I should just go." With that, she turned and left his apartment.

He sat engulfed in his emotions for what seemed like hours when he realized that he needed her in his life even if it was just as friends. He picked up his phone to dial her number. She wasn't sure she wanted to pick it up, but did anyway.

"Abby, I've been thinking, and I've come to the conclusion that I need you to be a part of my life. If all you can give me is friendship, then I'll take it. It won't be easy and is going to take some time, but I'll take it."

"Really, I'd like that a lot Tim"

"I have an idea…I need to get away for a few days, I'm going to visit my parents for the weekend. Why don't you stay at my place while they finish the work in your apartment? I'd feel better if you were here rather than hold up in some hotel. What do you say?"

"I don't know, are you sure Tim?"

"Abby please, I'm sure. The key is in the normal place, I'm leaving very shortly, and I'll be back on Sunday, oh and don't worry about the mess, I'll take care of it when I come back."

"Ok, I'll be there in an hour or so, and thanks Tim"


	2. Chapter 2

"Gibbs" he gruffly answered the phone.

"Hey boss, it's McGee."

"This had better be good McGee, I'm kind of in the middle of something here" he wasn't really, he was just trying to get a reaction out of his youngest agent.

"Uh…boss…I…"

"Just say it McGee"

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that Abby is staying at my place this weekend"

"McGee why are you telling me this"

"I just wanted you to know that she's there, keeping an eye on the place for me, and given that Michael Mowers was released last week I didn't want to take any chances."

"What…you mean to tell me that that psycho was released. Why didn't anybody tell me about this?"

"She didn't want you to worry"

"Damn it McGee, why didn't you tell me? Never mind, I'll check on her"

It wasn't minutes after he hung up the phone that he was in his car and on his way to McGee's apartment to first make sure she was ok, and second to give her a piece of his mind for not telling him about Michael.

He could here the music through the door when he began knocking. After several unanswered attempts, he grabbed the knob and turned it. Shaking his head at the unlocked door he walked into McGee's apartment and just stood their closing the door behind him. He was trying to make sense of what he was seeing. Abby was bent over picking up what looked to be rose pedals off of the floor, he saw the half melted candles everywhere, what looked to be broken glasses, an overturned chair, and what he caught out of the corner of his eye was what looked like a ring box.

Abby turned around "Gibbs" she shouts as he startled her "what the hell are you doing here"

"Checking in on you, and why the hell was that door unlocked"

"I must've forgotten to lock it behind me"

"You seem to be forgetting a lot of things these days"

"What…what are you talking about" she says defensively

"You apparently forgot to tell me about a certain stalker that was just released"

"Oh, I didn't really forget, I just didn't tell you"

"And why is that" as he closes the distance between them

"Because I didn't want to worry you, and I really believe that he has put it behind him and moved on"

"Damn it Abbs, don't be so naive. He's not going to put it behind him, and what the hell happened here anyway?"

"It's a long story and I … don't really want to get into it. As you can see, I am fine, so you can go"

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what happened here"

"Well then if you staying grab a garbage bag and help"

He did as she asked. Not because she told him to, but because of the opportunity it presented him with. He figured if he was pretending to help clean up he would be able to snoop around and try to figure out what actually happened although he thought he had a pretty good idea. The first place he was going was directly to that ring box on the table. He opened the box to a beautiful diamond and his heart fell. Before he could gather his thoughts he blurted out "You told him no didn't you?" She turned to look at him confusingly. "He asked you to marry him and you said no didn't you?" Knowing there was no avoiding the topic, she gave in. "Yes genius, you figured it out. Bravo!!" She said. Good girl he thought to himself.

"Why the hell are you staying in his apartment then and why are you cleaning up his mess…" he figured he better stop talking before he said what his brain was thinking. He wanted to tell her what a big mistake it would've been for her to marry him, and that he's happy that she turned him down. Happy for her, not so happy for McGee, he knew McGee loved her, he saw it is his eyes, but he knew McGee wasn't the one for her. He just needed her to figure that out for herself. For starters she says "I was planning on staying with him while they fixed the plumbing in my apartment until two days ago when I…I…I knew it wasn't going to work." Seeing the emotion begin to form in her eyes he interrupts her and says "I'll tell you what, let's quickly finish this up, we'll get take out, go back to my place and get reacquainted with my friend Jack Daniels." She hesitated and before she could reply he breaks in with "I'm not letting you stay here on your own until I here back from Tony and Ziva about Michael." "Where are Tony and Ziva she asks?" "Let's just say they are going to get reacquainted with Mr. Mower this evening and leave it at that he replies.


	3. Chapter 3

They were sitting on the couch together her head tucked under his arm resting on his shoulder and both of them were remembering how good this felt. They had been like this many times pre-McGee, strictly as friends, but they both missed this. When she started dating McGee they mutually lost some of the closeness they shared. She felt it was disrespectful to Tim, and he knew how she felt and didn't want to interfere with their relationship.

His thoughts wander back to the present and he wanted to know everything that happened with Abbs and McGee. He knew that she said no to his marriage proposal which was very important, but just as important was why she said no. He wasn't exactly sure how to reproach the subject, and given his direct nature he simply asked "do you want to talk about it?" He felt her body tense at the question, but continued "Abbs, I'm here for you, just tell me what happened."

She didn't really want to talk about it, especially with him, but knew that he had her in is crosshairs and there wasn't really anyway to avoid it. Her thoughts were scrambled; she wasn't sure how much to tell him. She had to be careful not to put their friendship on the line as well. She had already done that once tonight and wasn't ready for round two.

Trying to give her a starting point, he asked "what happened two days ago?" She had a deer in the headlights look in her eyes and she knew that he saw it when he breaks her concentration and says "back at McGee's place you said that you were planning on staying with him until two days ago, what happened two days ago?" Be careful here Abs she thought to herself as she knew she couldn't tell him what happened two days ago was just as much about him and it was McGee. True, she realized that she couldn't love Tim the way he loved her, but she had only known that because she realized just how much she loved the man holding her now. She knew she loved Gibbs in a way she has never any other, but she also knew that that relationship would never happen. She didn't leave Tim in pursuit of a relationship with Gibbs, she left him because she knew how deep in love with somebody she could be, and she wasn't with Tim. She wanted the entire package.

"Abbs" he says

She knew lying to Gibbs was a mistake, and one that very few people came back from, but she couldn't afford him the truth. She figured her best approach was short and simple answers, no elaborations.

She replies to him "I just don't love him, and it's just that simple"

"And you realized this two days ago?" he asks

"I…yes"

"And what happened to make you realize this?"

There it was, the question she didn't want to answer. So she lied "nothing in particular, I just was thinking and it came to me." He was staring at her face and dropped his disapproving eyes and mumbles "liar". She heard him and to be honest half expected him to say it because she was, but her defenses went up and she blurted "what…what Gibbs, my answer not good enough for you. It isn't really any of your business anyway" shouting by now she was sure she had pushed him far enough away to avoid the remaining parts of the conversation.

"I thought that you would at least tell me the truth. I'm just trying to be here for you like you've been for me so many times." Standing up and looking over her still sitting on the couch he shouts back "the difference Abbs, is that even though I didn't want to talk, I never lied to you. I knew you were trying to help and I respected you enough not to lie to you no matter how hard it was."

Rapidly standing to meet her eyes with his she yells "what do you want from me, I can't…" He yells back "the truth" before she can finish. Screaming, she says "fine you want the truth here it is "two days ago I realized I love Tim, but not like I should. I realized that I want to love and be loved in a way that can't be and shouldn't be lived without. I want to be with a man that takes my breath away just by walking by me; a man that can hold my eyes with his as if there was nothing else in existence; a man who can make my heart skip a beat with a simple touch; a man that can make my knees shake with his smile. I want a man that can do these things to me, and I realized that I want a man that feels those same things when I do them to him." She moves towards him significantly reducing the space between them without missing a beat or taking a breath she continues to shout "I want to love him with every ounce of my being, and I want him to be able to do the same. I know what it feels like now to love someone like that, you showed it to me, you made me feel it, and I won't settle for anything less. You made me..." There was a knock on the door followed by a "boss, you ok". It was Tony.


	4. Chapter 4

She had started to breathe again when she took a second to reflect on what she had just said and the look of pure confusion on his face. "DiZonno I'm fine" he shouts at the door as he slightly turns his head being careful not to loose her eyes. "I heard shouting, and well I was able to track down Mower." Gibbs head turned full tilt to the door and made his way to let him in when Abby nearly knocked him over to push past both men and escape out the door. "Boss, what did you do to Abby, why was she yelling at you, is she ok?" Tony asks. "Forget it Tony, what happened with Mower?" Tony replies "I did as you said, I reminded him of his current situation, and just told him that the100 yard distance that he was told he needed to keep between him and Abby was just increased to the entire state. Oh yeah, and I warned him that you have killed for a lot less as I watched him board a plane to Florida." Good job Tony, notify the local authorities of his situation, and I'll inform the local NCIS branch of the same. "Boss…Abby…what did you do to her?" Tony asks hesitantly. "Go" Gibbs sternly replies.

A week had passed and they said nothing to each other. He sent one of the other agents to the lab when he needed something, and she relayed her findings through the same agents as well. Tony, Ziva, and McGee knew that something was off between the two of them, but it wasn't until they went out to lunch and discussed what each knew that they put the pieces together. McGee informed Tony and Ziva that he had proposed to Abby and that she had turned him down. He had a new perspective on that now though. That trip to his parents really cleared his head. Tony and Ziva were stunned to hear the news and both reached out a hand of sympathy when he simply said "I'm really ok with it". He explains "I had a long talk with my father and he made me see that I did rush it with Abbs, don't get me wrong, I love her very much, but I can't force her to feel what she doesn't. I want both of us to have it all, and I just don't think that that can happen if we were to stay together." Tony shrugs "ok, then why were Gibbs and Abby fighting at his house? I wish I could've heard what they were saying. I've never seen either of them look that way." Ziva sits across from them shaking her head. "What" they said in unison. Ziva replies "how is it that neither of you see what's going on? How do you propose to a woman who is so clearly in love with another man, and you Tony, how do you call him your best friend and have no idea that he is head over heals for Abby? It's written all over both of them." Tony and McGee stare at each other and its as if somebody flipped the switch on, they both knew Ziva was right. "Ok then miss genius, how do we fix it before they both drive us mad?"


	5. Chapter 5

Last chapter for now…will update soon…please review

PLAN A:

This was to be the simplest and of the two plans. They have decided that McGee should take to Gibbs, and Tony & Ziva would rally Abby. Their plan of action was subtle suggestions. They had hoped that with a few well placed conversations that Gibbs & Abby would realize what was going on and resolve it themselves.

McGee was up first. He pulled Gibbs aside and just blurted it out, he said " I know that you love her boss." "McGee, I don't have time for this" was his response. McGee grabbed Gibbs by the arm as he started to walk away knowing that it was not a good move, he stood his ground and said "look boss, I know you love her, and I'm not going to pretend that it feels good to know it, but it doesn't change anything. You love her and you have for a long time, I'm just sorry I didn't see it sooner. If there is one thing that I've learned, it's what it feels like to loose her. McGee stands half waiting for him to smack him, but when Gibbs just dropped his head and turned his back to walk away he had to admit that he really felt for him. Tony & Ziva had a very similar conversation with Abby that ended with the same result.

They waited three days to no resolve and by then it was onto plan B.

PLAN B:

This was meant to be a very direct approach, one that made them glad that they had life insurance policies if it didn't work. Ziva was in Abby's lab and asked her if she could come up to the bullpen with her to help her with her computer. They made their way to the elevator. Tony told Gibbs they had a lead on a case and the two of them grabbed their gear and headed to the elevator.

The elevator dings and in a flash Ziva had pushed the button to close the doors and had exited, and Tony had pushed Gibbs into the elevator, and directly into Abby knocking them both down as the doors closed behind them. Through his cell phone he shouts to McGee "Now McGee".

Just as the doors closed, it shut down leaving only the emergency lighting on. "What the hell is…Abbs, you ok? Gibbs asked and he made note of the fact that he was covering her body with his. Holding her hand to her head she says "yeah, what was that all about?" Still on top of her he pulls her hand away from her forehead to reveal the bump that was made when their two heads collided. "I'm not sure but I'm about to find out."

He stands pulling her up with him and reaches for his cell phone when he realizes that Tony must have grabbed it, then reaches for the elevator's emergency phone and realizes that it had been disabled. "McGee he shouts." "Now what Abby Asks?"

"I don't know Abby, I guess we're stuck"

"Great, just what I need"

"Tell me about it" he says

Joining Ziva & Tony back in the bullpen McGee asks "so how long do we leave them in there for?"

Tony replies "it'll be at least a couple of hours before the repair men get here and figure out you disabled the power so you might as well get comfortable."


	6. Chapter 6

They were sitting in opposite corners of the elevator in silence, both taking in what had actually just happened. Abby put it together first, after the conversation that Tony and Ziva had with her, she knew why they did it. She wasn't pleased that they had, but knew that their hearts were in the right place. "You know why they did this don't you?" she asks. "Because they have a death wish" recalling the talk he had with McGee. Neither of them was aware of the conversation that the other had been forced to have, nor were they about to bring it up now. They sat in silence.

"How's your head?" he asks

"Fine" she replies hastily

"Make sure you put ice on it tonight or it'll be worst tomorrow" as his eyes lock onto hers.

"No way Gibbs, you don't get to do that. Not anymore. I don't want your concern or pity. I can take care of myself. I don't need you like that anymore."

"Fine" he replies angrily

Silence fills the elevator once again.

She knew what she had said was harsh, and that it probably didn't come out like she had intended it to, but at the same time, she also knew that part of it was true. She knew this would happen, she knew that as soon as she told him how she felt that he would pull away, and it would ruin their friendship. It had; she'd lost her best friend. They haven't talked in several days, he wanted nothing to do with her anymore, and that pissed her off. In her head she always knew that it would never work out between them, but her heart always held out hope. It was her heart that was breaking now.

Her words hurt, and more than he thought they would. He thought that she'd always need him, or maybe it was that he wanted her to always need him. Whichever it was, it was still hard to swallow. He didn't know what to do with her anymore, what to say, or even how to act around her. McGee was right, he did love her, and he's known it for some time now. The problem was that the way he loved her scared him. He'd been married a few times and in love before, but there was only one woman that he truly belonged; his first wife Shannon. He knew exactly the type of love that Abby was talking about when she stood days ago yelling at him, he knew because he had it Shannon, but he'd given up on it years ago when she died. The truth of the matter is that the life that a relationship with Abby would offer him terrified him. It made him vulnerable to a type of pain he knew he couldn't deal with again.

"Abbs, I know you're angry"

"What was your first clue Special Agent Man?" she says sarcastically

"Abbs, I can't…I…"

"I know, I've always known. But you need to know that I can't do this anymore." she says

"Abbs, we…"

"No Gibbs." She interrupts. "You did this, it may have been my words, but it was your actions. You forced it out of me" grabbing the rails to stand herself up she continues "you tell me that I should respect you enough to tell you the truth, and when I do and you don't like what you hear you turn your back on me."

Standing himself, he closes the distance between them and says "I didn't turn my back on you Abbs, I'm right here" in his head he knew she was right.

"Don't insult my intelligence Gibbs; we wouldn't be having this conversation if your agents hadn't had a death wish." Tears running down her cheeks "you did turn you back on me, and you ruined a great friendship in the process."

He reaches for her face and holds it with one hand and wipes her tears with the other. She closes her eyes and starts to relax her face into his hand relishing in his touch, when she quickly reopens her eyes and pulls away and before they can say anything the elevator starts moving again.

Tony, Ziva, and McGee peer their heads around the corner opposite of the elevator doors in anticipation. They knew they were either going to see one of two things. Both Gibbs and Abby would walk out smiling, or walk out pissed, in either situation they knew that they were going to have to run. They watched as Gibbs walked off towards his desk, and they quickly focused on Abby who looked like she had been crying as she took the stairs back down to her lab. They knew they were in for it, and turned to make their escape when they were meant with a very angry Gibbs staring over them. Simultaneously, they began backing up to increase the distance between the hunter and the prey before they turned into a full sprint to the stairwell. They didn't stop until they reached the car.

Gibbs sat at his desk trying to look busy as he glared off into space. Thinking about what had happened; he knew that she was right. He knew he'd hurt her and he hated that. He wanted her, every piece of her in every way, but it was a big cliff to jump off of for him. Love never worked out for him, and until Abby he'd been okay with that. He turned off his lamp and headed home for his whiskey and boat.

Abby went back to her lab where she completed her two week vacation request as well as her resignation letter effective immediately following her vacation. She placed them into an inter-office mail envelope and addressed it to Director Sheppard. She boxed up her personal items, grabbed her coat, dropped the envelope in the Director's mail box, and exited the building silently saying goodbye to everyone as she drove off of the Navy yard.


	7. Chapter 7

They didn't have a case, so Gibbs spent most of Monday morning worrying why Abby hadn't come into work, and making Tony, Ziva, and McGee pay for their stunt Friday afternoon. He had decided that they needed to spend the day with the new recruits. They would spend the day participating in mindless classroom lectures and activities. He had decided that his agents would have annoying tasks to perform for every day that they didn't have a case. He just hoped that he would have a couple of days of fun with it.

It was shortly after lunch when Director Sheppard asked to see Gibbs in her office. He could see the envelope on her desk as he entered and didn't pay any mind to it before he says "you wanted to see me Director?"

"Jethro, we need to talk about Abby?"

Immediately thinking that his agents had gotten to her he replies "no we don't" as he makes his way back to leave her office.

"Jethro, where are you going? I called you up here because we need to talk about Abby's replacement."

"Abby's what?" He turns back around making his way back towards her.

She hands him Abby's resignation letter, and as his eyes make contact with the page and begin reading, he feels the sadness take him over. "Well?" she asks. Lost in the page he ignores her.

"Jethro!"

"What?"

"I take it you didn't know about this then?"

"No Jen, I didn't. This says effective in two weeks; do you know why she isn't here today?"

Jen hands him the other page sitting on her desk. "She filed for two weeks vacation starting today."

"So she's not planning on coming back at all" he says more to himself and not expecting an answer.

"I've scheduled a replacement for now, but we're going to have to review applications soon Jethro."

With that he just turned and walked out of her office and back to his desk. Elbows on his desk and his face in his hands his thoughts begin to consume him. He knows that she left because of him and what had happened between the two of them, and suddenly the thought of not having her here at all overwhelms him. He reaches for his coffee and heads to Ducky.

"Duck, you got a sec?"

"Sure Jethro, what's on you mind?"

"Abbs"

"Yes, I figured you'd be down to see me today"

"She resigned today Duck"

"I know"

"You know" he says confusingly. Ducky looks for the words to tell him how, but simply says "what did you expect Jethro, and to be honest, I'd like to know why you let it happen?"

"I didn't just sit back and let it happen, Duck, I didn't know it was happening at all"

"Good God man you certainly did. Did you expect her to stay here and around you after you shut her out? It didn't have to happen this way. If you weren't man enough to admit to yourself that you love her, you could've at least remained as friends. She would've lived with that, she was prepared to live with that."

"I'm not. I was fine before I knew how she felt, but now that I know, I can't just be her friend." He pauses and takes a deep breath before he says "it's the same Duck, the way I love her is the same way I loved Shannon."

"So because you love her, you cannot be friends. That makes no sense at all Jethro."

"You don't understand. Shannon was the best thing that ever happened to me, and she died, she left me and it was hell. I can't go through that again Duck.

"The Leroy Jethro Gibbs that I know takes bigger risks everyday." He says as he slaps the back of his head. "You're a foolish man. It's a mute point anyway I'm afraid. Seems as if you'll have to live with you decision."

Gibbs phone rings as his eyes hold an empty stare with Ducky's. "Gibbs" he answers. "When" was his only reply. He hangs up and dials Tony immediately. "Mower landed in D.C. an hour ago. Find him. Now." He looks at Ducky as he dials Abby's number. "She's not answering" he says. "She won't, she's not there" Ducky replies. Gibbs slams his phone down, "where is she?"

"I told you she left. When she called this morning she said that she moved back home. She's with her parents until she finds a new apartment."

He was relived that Mower couldn't get to her for now, but his heart fell when he realized how "gone" she really was.

Hope you like…will update soon…please review


	8. Chapter 8

Abby decided that moving away was what she needed to do for herself. She didn't want to leave her friends, and most of all she didn't want to leave him. But seeing him everyday and knowing that she could do nothing to mend their relationship was a punishment she could not handle. She still thought about him all the time, she picked the phone up on more that one occasion out of pure habit just to hear his voice. Each time reminding herself that he'd made his choice, and regardless of how much it hurt, she needed to respect it. She needed to respect herself enough to move on. She never called him.

It'd been nearly two weeks since she left when she answered her cell phone to a friendly voice. "Timmy" the excitement in her voice penetrates him. "Hey Abbs, how you doing, you settling in ok?" She replies "I'm actually moving my last few boxes into my new apartment as we speak." McGee caught her up on the latest gossip of NCIS. He's rambling as he hears "thanks Josh, you are the best" in the background. "Who's Josh?" he asked with a hint of jealousy. "He's my new friendly neighbor. He's been helping me move the heavy boxes and furniture. He's been a great help." She turns from Josh to whisper into the phone "he's really cute too." That wasn't exactly what McGee had wanted to hear, but he was happy for her nonetheless. "Thanks again Mr. Josh Flynn, see you tonight" was the next thing he heard. "Josh Flynn" McGee asks. "Yes Timmy, Josh Flynn" she says sarcastically. "McGee" she says as her voice changes to a tone of sadness, "how is he?" She knew he was fine, he always was, but she still had to ask. "Abbs, he's ok." "I've got to go now Timmy, we'll talk soon. Tell everybody…wait…almost everybody that I said hello and that I'll talk to them soon." He knew exactly what she meant by "almost everybody", "Abbs, why…" he says. "Just don't Tim, don't tell him anything from me. I'll talk to you soon Tim", "bye Abbs."

The next day she had sent an email to almost everybody telling them about everything going on along with pictures of her new apartment, herself, and her new neighbor Josh. They were all excited that she was doing well, or at least seemed to be doing well anyways. McGee printed her picture and tacked it to his cubicle wall. When he entered the bullpen her heard them all talking about the email and Abby, and he immediately noticed the new photo that McGee had hung. He silently strode to his desk, placed his gun in his drawer, and turned to check his email. Hoping he'd gotten one from her as well, he quickly ran his eyes through the list of new email. He ran through them three times to be exact, never finding one. He stood coffee in hand and abruptly leaves the bullpen.

"He's upset, he must not have received an email from Abby" Ziva says. McGee replies "Well Ziva, he's got no one to blame for that except himself." Tony interrupts "give the guy a break McGee. It sucks the way that it worked out, especially for you, but you can't hold it against him forever. You're relationship with her was over regardless of how theirs worked out." McGee thought about what Tony said and he was right, but he wasn't angry with Gibbs, he was envious, and he resented him. He was envious because Gibbs had a choice, he could be with her, or retain their friendship, while he wasn't afforded the same luxury with Abby it was friends or nothing at all. None of them knew for sure the real reason she left, all she had said to him was that "it was time for a change", but McGee knew her well enough to know that it had to do with Gibbs and he resented him for making her go. Tony was right, though, he couldn't hold it against him anymore. McGee turned to his computer and began his frantic typing before scratching something on a small yellow piece of paper and putting it in is drawer. An hour later McGee re-entered the bullpen coffee in hand as Tony and Ziva were leaving for the day "kinda late for you to be drinking coffee isn't it probie?" Tony asks. "Not today" he replies as he sits at his desk watching them enter the elevator and waiting for the doors to shut. Once they were gone, he reached into his drawer to retrieve that small yellow piece of paper, he walked to Gibb's desk and placed it directly underneath the fresh cup of coffee where it was sure to get Gibb's attention. He left.


	9. Chapter 9

Gibbs headed back to his desk; it'd been a slow day. The type of day he has now begun to hate; it allowed his mind too much time to think about her. He reached for the hot cup of coffee; surprised at its existence, and noticed the small yellow piece of paper underneath it. He reached for his glasses in wonder. Looking at it, he recognized the handwriting immediately, and it took him a few moments to realize what he was actually seeing; an out of area phone number, an email address that he knew he'd seen before but couldn't place, and an address for an apartment in New Orleans. He takes a deep breath and exhales while locking his fingers behind his head and sitting back in his chair as his eyes immediately become focused on the picture McGee had tacked to his cubicle wall. It was her; Abbs, his Abbs.

She was all that he could think about. He'd reached for his phone several times since she'd been gone, and had even managed to dial all but one number before hanging it up again. He'd thought he was doing the right thing. Although nothing could compare to the loss of his wife and daughter, these last few weeks came in a very close second. He missed her, everything about her; her smile, her eyes, and her warmth. He missed the way his heart would skip a beat when he saw her, not being able to catch his breath when she smiled at him, and god did he miss her touch. A touch that made his heart beat out of his chest, yet brought everything else to a screeching halt.

He stared at that picture for the better half of two hours before walking to and boarding the elevator to leave. He was only gone twenty minutes; long enough to get coffee and come back. His head was spinning, and his heart was starting to feel some life again, some excitement as he knew what he was about to do.

He sat in his chair facing his computer and began typing an email. Forty-five minutes all he managed to type was her email address and her name. He'd actually had several sentences at various points, but always ended up deleting them second guessing himself. He wanted to tell her everything. Everything about what had happened, why it had happened, and most importantly that he loved her and didn't want to live life without her; that he couldn't live life without her. He needed it to come out right, he didn't want to take the chance that he would screw it up and she would get the wrong impression. He surrendered to the idea that an email wasn't the way to go; it wasn't personal enough, and he knew from experience that deleting an email was far too easy, especially when you are angry with the person sending it to you. He reached for his phone. He tried dialing the numbers, wondering if she would even answer and if she did, there was no guarantee she wouldn't hand it up as soon as she did. It wasn't long before he surrendered to this idea as well. He pushes his chair back, stands to grab is jacket and makes for the exit. He needs to do this face to face. He owes her this.

It after midnight when he finally pulled up to her apartment building. He wasn't planning on approaching her tonight, but he knew that sleeping wasn't an option, so he figured he'd drive to her apartment tonight just to where the place was, and he'd come back in the morning. He was sitting there for a few minutes pondering what would happen tomorrow. Would she slam the door in his face, would she even let him speak? He was prepared for either scenario, he had to at least say what he came to say, and god willing be able to hold her like he had dreamed he would.

He looked at the clock in the car and was shocked to see that he had been sitting their thinking for almost an hour. It was time for him to go. Just as he reached to turn the key in the ignition he saw two figures walking towards the apartment building. Even in the pitch black he could recognize her walk, he knew it was her, but who was she with, and why the hell was he touching her like that? He couldn't take his eyes off of them. They approached the entrance and while Abby ruffled through her purse for what he could only assume was her keys, the guy spun her around and began passionately kissing her. He couldn't help but notice that she was kissing him back. The excitement that he had allowed to make its way back into his heart drained instantly. It was a knife in his heart, but he couldn't turn his eyes from them. More than anything, he wanted to tear them apart, take her into his arms and never let go. They fumbled their way inside. He drove away.


	10. Chapter 10

Thanks for all the great reviews!!!! It's a work in progress, hope you like.

McGee was the first to arrive. He glanced at Gibb's desk and took notice that what he had left for him on Friday was gone. He allows a smile to escape as he turns to sit at his desk and sees a familiar site; a coffee cup with a small piece of paper underneath it. In the moment it took him to reach and grab the cup he was feeling proud of himself until he realized the cup was empty, and he was staring at his own handwriting on the same piece of paper he'd given to his boss. A piece of paper that now bore the words "NICE TRY" in big bold letters at the bottom. He hated to admit it, but he really thought that they could be happy together, and he wanted that for them. He sat in his chair defeated, knowing that he had tried, and there was nothing else he could do if neither of them was willing.

Tony had found Mower outside his old apartment the night he landed back in D.C.

"Didn't I speak clearly enough when I told you that he'd killed for less?" Tony said as he approached an unsuspecting Mower.

Surprised and stuttering "Yes, you did. I'm not staying."

"Oh, I know that's the truth. Why are you here?" Tony asks.

"I'm meeting with my lawyer in an hour; I'll be back in Florida in the morning."

Tony stands nose to nose with him and says "I'll see that you are." Keeping his distance, he tailed Mower until he boarded another plane back to Florida. "He's gone boss" he said as Gibbs answered his cell phone. "Good" was all he heard in return.

Hours later his phone rang "DiNozzo" he said as he answered it. "Special Agent DiNozzo, my name is Detective Wheeler of the Florida State Police, and I have a few questions about a suspect named Michael Mower." All of his attention now pouring into the phone he asks "What about him?" Detective Wheeler explains "he was pulled over for a routine traffic stop when the arresting officer noticed his agitated state and asked him to step from the vehicle. He refused for some time, and then exploded out of the vehicle and attacked my officer. He is currently being held for numerous charges including assaulting an officer and drug possession." Tony replies "I won't say that I'm disappointed or surprised. So what can I help you with Detective?"

Wheeler replies "I read his case file, and I'm almost positive the woman on the videos we collected from his vehicle is the same woman from your stalking case."

Tony interrupts "and you want me to tell you whether or not its Abby on the videos?"

"Well Yes, but as a courtesy, I'm offering you first crack at charging him for the stalking and anything else you can get him on."

"I'm not sure where you're getting your information from Detective, but that case has been dismissed. He must have had copies of the old videos somewhere."

"I'm sorry Agent DiNozzo, but our techs have analyzed the videos and have verified that they were recorded last week."

DiNozzo jumps up from his desk and says "send me the videos, all of them!"

Tony gathered the team and they all stood in front of the plasma as McGee began to play the videos Detective Wheeler had sent to Tony. It was definitely Abby. "Boss, we've got a problem" McGee said "I can see that McGee" Gibbs replied.

"No boss look at where she is" he pulls up the email pictures she had sent them. "Look boss, these videos were taken from her new apartment, and look at the angles, they were taken from different cameras, throughout apartment and at the same time. Gibbs was about to turn away in disgust when he saw a flash of an image appear on the screen. "Go back McGee" he said.

"There, who's that and what's he doing?" Gibbs asked

"He's adjusting the camera"

"Well if he's adjusting the camera, he would've had to have known it was there now wouldn't he?" Gibbs replied sarcastically.

Tony pushes them both aside and puts a printed picture up next to the screen. "Boss, that's not Mower, its Josh." Moving closer to the screen he says to himself "so that's your name", and confidently says to Tony "the boyfriend". McGee butts in "she called him her friendly neighbor." In the meantime Ziva was contacting the local authorities and filling them in on the case while Ducky was on the phone to Abby.

Ducky informed Abby of the situation and told her about the cameras. They'd remained on the phone until the Police had arrived next door and arrested Josh. Detective Wheeler had gotten a confession out of Mower about the entire scheme. Apparently Mower never stayed in Florida, he would get off the plan and drive to New Orleans where he would meet up with his cousin Josh. He wanted to watch her, watch her and Josh until she was comfortable enough with Josh that he could make his move. Mower and Josh were behind bars before nightfall.

Tony, Ziva, and McGee had flown out that night to be with Abby. She'd said she was fine but they knew different. They'd spent the weekend with her taking in the sites, eateries, and bars. It'd been fun; she'd really missed all of them, but it made her realize just how much she missed the one person who wasn't there. On that last night Tim had asked Abby to go for a walk with him, and with a slight feeling of reluctance she'd agreed. They walked in silence for a few minutes when Tim asked "are you sure that you're ok?

"I'm fine, really, I am."

"So tell me about Josh" he asks barely letting her finish her answer to his last question

"There really isn't much to tell. He was always nice, and at first that was ok, but the more time I spent with him the more I realized he was too nice. My gut was telling me something was wrong even though I had no idea what it was."

"So…nothing ever happened between you two?"

"No…we…I mean we kissed once, and them I told him to go home."

"Kissed…Once…" he new that Abby didn't just kiss once, and that she was an all or nothing type of woman. Something must have happened for them not to continue. He grabs her by the arm and stops her forward progress as he moves to face her with concern "what did he do to you Abbs?" he asks.

"Besides watch me through hidden cameras 24 hours a day, nothing" she says sarcastically."

"Then why did you tell him to go home then?"

"Because Tim" annoyed at his persistence "after the kiss I knew something wasn't right with him, and us. That was when my gut started telling me something was wrong. So I asked him to leave, and I've only seen him in passing twice since then."

"So he left you alone then?"

"I thought so, but after finding all of those cameras, I guess that really wasn't the case."

He was grateful that it had all seemed to work out ok given what could've happened. It could've been so much worse, but as it turned out Mower and Josh had been taken into custody and would remain there for a very long time. He was satisfied with that thought and he reached to her to pull her into a hug and said "I'm glad you're ok Abs."


	11. Chapter 11

"Damn it Jethro, that's the fifth one" Jenny says as she approaches Gibbs at his desk. He doesn't acknowledge her presence and continues to look at his computer screen. "Jethro" she says louder. Feeling the eyes of the rest of the team now on him, he looks at her and simply replies "what?" Jenny pauses for a moment trying to gather her anger "you've gone through five of some of the most qualified Forensic Scientists in two months." His eyes meeting hers in haste "I haven't gone through anybody yet, Jen." She makes movement closer to him meeting his stare and holding it before she says "she's not coming back Jethro, and you can't keep scaring people away hoping that she will." Listening to her he feels the rage begin to brew. He stands and closes the remaining distance between them and slams his hand on his desk "I know she's not coming back and I know why she's not coming back, and I don't need you or anybody else here to tell me that." He makes his way around his desk and heads for the elevator before turning back to everyone raising his finger and saying "I'm only going to say this once, to all of you, leave it alone!"

"Well, Director, welcome to our world." says Tony. She replies "all of you, my office, ten minutes!"

It's been two months since Abby has resigned. She hadn't seen anybody from NCIS since they left her after the Michael & Josh thing, but she'd kept in contact with everybody; except for Gibbs. She'd taken a job in the lab of the New Orleans branch of the FBI, and to anybody who didn't know her they would say she was doing great. The team knew otherwise. They missed her as much as she missed them.

Tony, Ziva, and McGee all sat around the conference table in Jenn's office waiting for her to gather her thoughts. "Let me just start by saying that I know about your elevator scheme, and although I know you meant well, if you pull something like that again you're all fired! Now back to the task at hand. I need you to brief me on the current situation with Gibbs so we can figure out how to handle this because quite frankly I'm out of patience and Forensic Scientists." They all sat motionless waiting for each other to start talking, when Ziva spoke up saying "they love each other but they are both so horse headed to figure it out." They all chuckle and Tony corrects her "the phrase is pig headed Ziva." Jenny gets back on point "are we all in agreement with Ziva then?" Tony & McGee glanced at each other before confirming to Jenny with a nod of the head. Tony speaks up "something happened between the two of them at Gibbs's house. I heard her yelling at him, and nothing has been the same since." After a few more minutes Jenny feels she is armed with as much information that they can offer her and she says "your dismissed, I need to talk to Ducky", and with that they all exited her office.

Gibbs took a walk to cool down for a bit and ended up in the morgue with Ducky about an hour later. "Jethro, come to slam my desk now have you?" Somewhat surprised he says "you heard about that already?"

"Yes, and I must say that you need to get control of yourself."

"I'm fine Duck"

"On the contrary, Jethro, you are anything but fine, and I suspect that you'll need to find a way to deal with this mess you've made before you alienate this entire building."

"Oh, come on Duck, I got a little mad, that's it"

"You've been mad for two months now, and it's high time that you stopped, for all of our sakes."

He watched as Ducky made his way across the morgue and back to his desk letting a few moments pass. "There's nothing I can do, she's happy now Duck. The new job, house, and friends. She's made a new life for herself out there, and I'm happy for her."

"Isn't one of your rules to never assume anything?" Ducky asks

"Yes, but so is never take anything for granted and I blew that one too" he replied as he left Ducky and headed to his car.

Reviews are a good thing. I'll update soon.


	12. Chapter 12

Thank you for the reviews everybody, love to see them! 

He headed to his basement for his bourbon and sandpaper; it was where he did his best thinking. He wasn't alone for long when he heard the footsteps approaching the basement staircase. "Jethro" Ducky hollered, "We need to talk." He never lifted his eyes from his work, fearing the tone of Ducky's voice, and knowing that he probably didn't want to have this conversation.

Ducky made his way to him and said "I'll talk, you listen." He could sense the urgency in Ducky's voice and turned to face him handing him a sanding block he says "you work, I'll listen." Ducky responds with an approving nod. They stood on opposite sides of the boat facing each other the only sound heard was that of the sandpaper gliding across the wooden planks. Ducky was collecting his thoughts before he began to speak. He didn't like that he was the one elected to have this conversation although it made sense; he was the closest to both of them. He knew how they felt for each other, but even he had begun to realize that maybe they would never be able to overcome what has kept them apart for this long. Initially it was Jethro who pushed the emergency stop, but he was fairly certain that if Jethro went to her now that she would return the favor. He hated to admit it, but part of him hoped that she would for the simple fact that he knew how hard the last few months have been on her, and the last thing he wanted was to see her go through it all over again. On the other hand, he'd watched as his best friend struggled to deal with the same situation, he pretended like he was fine and that everything was good, but that was Jethro, that's how he dealt with things. He knows that it's beginning to take its toll on his friend; he's not hiding anything very well anymore. Concentrating on this block in his hand he says "It's time Jethro. I'm telling you this as a friend; it's time to move on." Sarcastically, not really wanting to jump right into the conversation, Gibbs responds "why don't you tell me how you really feel Duck?" Ducky immediately tightens his grip on the sanding block and responds "all right then." He continues with a 'matter of fact' tone "I think you're a fool. I think you made one of the biggest mistakes of your life when you turned your back to her. Most people never get to experience that kind of love once let alone twice and you threw it away. You threw it away because you were afraid of it, afraid of her and what a life with her meant. Well let me ask you something, how's the life without her been treating you?" He begins to breath again and continues "most of all, I just feel bad for both of you. Not only have you both lost what could've been a lifetime of what most people only dream of, but you lost your best friends in the process." Shaking his head in disbelieve, he stops sanding and lifts his head to see his friend has moved away from the boat and perched himself up on the work bench with his eyes aimed directly at the floor. "Jethro have you…" Gibbs interrupts "you're right Duck, about everything, you're right." Ducky moves from around the boat and puts his sanding block beside him on the work bench "it's time to fix this, one way or another, fix it." Gibbs stands and reaches his hand out and says "thanks Duck." 

Alone again, he thinks about what his friend had just told him. He knew he was right, but he wasn't sure how to go about fixing it. He remembered the night in his living room and knows that he could've avoided all of this if he had just told her then how he'd felt about her. His thoughts went to what they usually did tonight for the past several years, and how much he missed being in her presence. He missed being able to talk to her, although there were times when they didn't say a word, they just sat close and comforted each other. He missed those too. The situation was different now, he'd let her slip past him and move on, and he had no right to try and interfere with that. He wanted to be there for her and for her to have everything that she wanted, even if it wasn't from him anymore. As if a switch went off he stood with purpose and says "Ducky's right, I can't do this anymore." 

He reached for his phone and without hesitation this time he dialed her number. He wasn't exactly sure what he would say, but for some reason that didn't matter right now. She didn't pick up, what he heard was "this is Abby you know what to do." A smile spread across his face; she was right, he did know what to do. It'd been so long since he'd heard her voice; it was the most amazing thing he'd heard in a long time. The annoying "beep" snapped him back to the task at hand and with a slight pause he says "Hey Abby, it's Gibbs, I just…I…Happy Birthday" he falls silent again before returning "I miss you Abbs." 


	13. Chapter 13

She walked into the restaurant and immediately eyed Jenny at the table next to the window. Jenny stood to greet her with a hug and says "it's good to see you Abby, how have you been?" "I'm good she says" still unsure why the director has asked to meet with her. Jenny motions for the waiter and asks for a bottle of wine before she turns to Abby "I know that you have some place to be tonight and although I would love to do some catching up, I'll save that for another time. I'm going to get right to the point and say that I would like to make an offer to you to come back to NCIS. Before you answer you should know that I'm not entirely positive why you left, although a few things have been brought to my attention in your absence. I can assure you that if you can overcome those issues that NCIS is the place for you, and to prove that to you I have put together a rather profitable benefit package. I don't need your answer tonight, take a look at the offer and let me know." Abby flips through the pages not really paying any mind to the particulars that they contain "Director, I appreciate the offer, but I just ca…" Jenny interrupts "firstly, I would prefer it if you called me Jenny, and secondly I don't want your answer tonight, just promise me you'll look it over. For old times sake." Abby acknowledges "Ok, but you should know that I love NCIS, I really do, but there are other things that are just as important to me as my career, and I need to respect those things and the decisions that have been made because of them." Jenny approvingly nods "I understand. Just take your time and get back to me." Abby stands to exit and reaches in her pocket "damn it. Jenny may I use your phone to call a cab, I must have left mine back at the hotel?" Jenny stands "no, but you can let me give you a lift to the bar. I'll drop you off and catch up with you later; I have a few things I need to take care of."

She had fun with the team, she hadn't seen them in a while, and she missed all of them. They had the back of the bar decorated in black Happy Birthday ribbons and even got the bar tender to die the beer black for her. She had a great time, but she couldn't get her meeting with Jenny out of her head. The party ended and instead of heading back to the hotel, she decided to go for a walk. She wanted to think. She was right about one thing she did love NCIS, and never would've left if it wasn't for Gibbs. There was just no way she could stay there and be near him everyday and not be able to talk to him and be there for him as a friend or anything else, especially after telling him how she really felt. He'd turned his back on her, he walked away, and she'd grown a lot since she'd left, put some things behind her. She knew she still loved him and knew that she always would, but her head was back on straight, she knew that he couldn't give her the kind of love that she longed for. It really sucked, she missed him and the way she felt when he was near her. There was nothing else that she could do, he'd made his choice, and she'd moved on, or so she'd convinced herself that she had. She'd been walking for about an hour when she finally took notice as to where she was; outside the Navy Yard. She found a bench to sit and her legs were feeling a bit like jelly from the walk, or maybe it was from all the alcohol she'd consumed tonight, and was still consuming. Either way, she'd had enough walking for the night. She was comfortable there, looking across at the place where she used to spend so much of her time and energy. She missed it. She reached in her coat for the paperwork that Jenny had given her putting down her bottle to try and read, as if she was going to make some form of intelligent decision tonight. Before long she'd given up on that and just sat and watched the coming and goings of both the Navy Yard and the park surrounding her. 

He answers his phone "Gibbs." "Special Agent Gibbs this is Lieutenant Miller at the Navy Yard, I wasn't sure who to call but Miss. Scuito is in the park across the way and I believe that she could use some help." Not sure that he heard him right "what are you talking about Miller?" "Miss. Scuito sir, I think she's had a bit to drink and she's sitting in the park by herself. I was going to call her a cab, but…" he cuts him off "I'll be right there, don't take your eyes off of her" Lieutenant Miller heard the phone disconnect before he could say "yes sir." Gibbs stumbled for his keys and realized that he'd had a bit to drink himself and anxiously waited for the cab to drive him to the park. He walked up to her virtually unnoticed as she had her head dropped back apparently staring into the stars. Sitting next to her he says "you ok Abbs?" It took her a few moments to process what she'd just heard, she doesn't respond, she grips her bottle and begins to walk away. "Abbs, where you going?" he says as he reaches for her arm to stop her. "Away from here" she mumbles. "He pulls her arm to turn her to him and when their eyes met it felt like the world stop turning. "No Gibbs, not again" she says as she drops her bottle and slapped him across the face with her free arm. "Yes Abby" he says. He pulls her into his embrace with the arm he hasn't let go of, and she begins to sob into his shoulder. His tears weren't far behind as this is the first time he has been able to visibly see how he'd hurt her. She pushes away from him, grabs her bottle, and sits back down on the bench. He follows her "you going to share?" he asks referring to the bottle. She hesitates slightly and hands it to him. They passed it back and forth until it was empty and they were passed out on opposite sides of the bench. They didn't say a thing, and they never touched each other after she slapped him and he hugged her, but it was the most comfort either of them had felt in months. 

He answers his phone "DiNozzo." "Special Agent DiNozzo this is Lieutenant Miller at the Navy Yard, I wasn't sure who to call but Special Agent Gibbs and Miss Scuito are in the park across the way, they've had a bit to drink and I think they could use some help." He hung up the phone and laughed "this ought to be good…to good not to share" he thought. He picked up Ziva and McGee on the way to the park not quite sure what to expect. They approached the bench giggling at the site. "How can we take advantage of this?" Tony asks. Ziva and McGee glance at each other with half smiles wondering what Tony is going to come up with. "Campfire" Tony says as he grabs their arms to huddle them together. McGee carried Abby to the car not sure how she was going to react when she figured out what they had done, and in his own way saying goodbye to her; goodbye from a romantic perspective. Tony had Gibbs arms and Ziva his legs being careful not to wake him although they knew that there wasn't much that could wake either of them judging by the size of the empty bottle they found between the two of them. Using the same methods they carried the two of them up the stairs and into the bed, the same bed, Gibb's bed. They left them fully clothed, as they knew they should, and very close. Before making their way out of the bedroom, Tony stopped and glanced at Ziva and McGee with his head half cocked and nodding up and down. He pulled out his cell phone and snapped a few photos. He looked over at his accomplices and says "if they find out we did this they're going to kill us, so we might as well have something to show for it." They quietly left.

More to come soon….


	14. Chapter 14

He hated that he had to make this call, it hadn't been nearly as long as he would've liked

Thanks again for the reviews……

He hated that he had to make this call, it hadn't been nearly as long as he would've liked. It'd been a few hours, but given the condition they were in when he last saw them; he was hoping that they would've had a lot more time together. It took several rings before he heard the scruffy voice "Gibbs." He could tell by his voice that he'd just woken up "Boss, Ducky's been kidnapped, we need you to come in, both of you." There was a brief moment of silence "Boss! Did you hear me?" Tony shouts back trying to get his attention "Yeah DiNozzo, I'm on my way" he was dropping the phone from his ear when he heard Tony say "bring Abby to." He exits the bed making his way to the bathroom he says "DiNozzo, how the hell do you expect me to do that, I have no idea where she is?" Tony's head is spinning because he knew he was about to hang himself, but there was no way around it. "Boss…she's…um…where are you?" It was a desperate question he'd asked trying to figure out just how much information he was going to have to divulge. "I'm in the head if you must know, now what the hell is going on with you?" Tony replays the events of early this morning, and remembers that they placed Gibbs on the left side of the bed; the side of the bed facing the bathroom. Any bit of self preservation that he thought he was able to muster left him when he put the pieces together; Gibbs hadn't seen her yet. "DiNozzo" he shouts, and in doing so startled Tony enough for him to say "she's in your bed." The silence was deafening for the short time it took Gibbs to peak around the corner into his dark bedroom to see a figure on his bead; a very nice figure he couldn't help but notice. "Ohhh shit" was the last thing Tony heard before the phone disconnected. He was trying to wrap his head around what was going on, and what had happened last night, but he didn't have time. Ducky needed him, both of them.

He made his way back into the bedroom and kneeled beside her mesmerized by her peaceful beauty. He places his hand on her shoulder and begins rubbing it "Abbs….Abbs…you've got to wake up…Abbs…come on….Abbs." She slowly opens her eyes to his voice and when she is able to focus on his face her peaceful beauty morphed into pure confusion. He stood and took a step back "Abbs, Ducky has been kidnapped; we've got to get cleaned up and meet the team." She sat up in the bed with her legs dangling off the edge pausing before she put forth the effort to stand. It was then that she was awake enough to focus on what he had said and where she was. He could see the anger wash over her, it was something that he used to know how to fix, but now, it mostly just scared the hell out of him. "Abbs, use the downstairs bathroom, your clothes are where you left them, I'll shower up here but…" she didn't let him finish before smacking him across the face and staring into him "you bastard" she says as she makes her way past him towards the downstairs shower. "That's twice" he says to himself as he walks towards his own bathroom. His head was pounding and the slap from Abby certainly didn't help matters, but he was remembering what happened last night trying to figure out if he deserved it or not. The only thing he was sure about was that Tony knew she was there. He had to put the thoughts out of his head; he needed to focus on Ducky.

She couldn't remember how she ended up in his house, let alone in his bed, but she'd remembered him being at the park. When she saw him, she was pissed, she'd fought so hard to put him in her past and with one look it makes it seem brand new. She was even more pissed that he still had the same effect on her now as he did when she left McGee; he still made her struggle for breath, her knees weak, and her heart pound. That's why she slapped him; both times. She used to spend so much time here before all of this happened, it was her favorite place to be aside from work; which is why she had an extra set of clothes in the spare bedroom. She didn't want to think about what happened, afraid to let herself feel the comfort that he provided just by being in the same house. She had to put the thoughts out of her head; she needed to focus on Ducky.

It'd only been a few minutes since Tony had called him; he hated taking the time to get cleaned up, but knew that he couldn't go to work looking like he did. He thought a shower might to them both some good. It was a thought she reciprocated. It was an uneventful ride to NCIS, the only communication between them was the passing of the aspirin bottle.

The elevator doors open to reveal Tony, Ziva, McGee and Jenny standing around the plasma and Mrs. Mallard sitting behind Gibb's desk. "What've you got" Gibbs asked as he approached the group with Abby following behind. "Jethro" exclaimed Mrs. Mallard, "they've got my boy" she continued as he made his way to her to tell her "it's gonna be all right, we'll find him." With a look and an eye nod from Gibbs, Abby takes over for him as he makes his way to the rest of the team to find out more information. "Boss, all we have is a ransom letter delivered to Mrs. Mallard demanding one million dollars by 5pm or Ducky is dead" explained McGee. Gibbs got caught up on the details and then gently pulled Jenny aside "I want Abby on this Jen, I don't care about your paperwork, or your second rate scientists, I want her on this case" she responds "are you done yet?" He hesitates a moment "Jen…" she interrupts "do you think it was Tony's idea to bring her in?" she sarcastically asks as she turns and makes her way to Abby. "So she knew too" he says to himself referring to the fact the Jenny must have known that Abby was in his bed this morning. He's taking mental notes for the conversations he knows he's gonna be having when this was over. He returns to the team.

"Abby, a word please" Jenny says as she approaches Abby and directs her to a corner so they can talk. "I know that this isn't standard protocol, and I'm going to quote Gibbs' rule of 'it's better to seek forgiveness than ask permission' but I need to tell you that I have contacted your superiors and have had you temporarily reassigned to assist in this case." Abby waits for her to finish and without hesitation she replies "not that I have a choice in the matter, but until we find Ducky, this is where I need to be." They both share a respectful nod and head back to the team. Gibbs takes notice of their return and receives his own nod from Jenny signifying that Abby is on board. Gibbs turned to the team, and what happens next is second nature "Tony, Ziva crime scene, I want you talking to everybody who may have heard or seen anything. McGee, start tracking down the person who delivered the letter. Abby I want a full analysis on that letter." Gibbs turns to Mrs. Mallard and holds his hand out to accept hers helping her to her feet, he escorts her to the cafeteria.

To be continued…


	15. Chapter 15

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"Well babies, mamma is back" she says to her machines as she enters the lab. She takes a moment to look around and realizes that nothing has changed. Aside from the personal items she'd taken with her when she left, everything was exactly the same. "That's kind of odd" she says to herself, it's as if nobody has been in here since she'd left, and the more she thought about it, the more she liked it. Kate brought down some mixed CDs she'd made for her a while back and a radio; she had everything she needed. She turns the radio on, loads the CD, and makes her way to that letter.

It'd only been about an hour, and he was already heading down to see her. He'd learned to hate the trips to the lab since she'd left. The elevator doors pushed apart and he was overcome with a sense of familiarity; the music was playing again. He never thought he'd miss that until the day it stopped. It made him breath a bit easier as he paused for a moment before peering into the lab. She was in her normal position; her back was to him, her eyes lost in the computer monitor, and her hips swaying to the music that was usually so load he'd turn off as soon as he entered. "I've missed you Abby" he says to himself as he enters the lab and heads to the radio to turn the volume down. He wouldn't turn it off. "What've you got?" he asks as he makes his way to her being careful not to stand to close. If there is one thing that he's learned in all of this is that she packs a pretty good right hook. "I was able to lift a print off of the right corner of the letter. It's smudged, but I think I can still use it. I'm analyzing the type of paper used, but I suspect that it's widely common and untraceable as such. There isn't much for me to go on here Gibbs." "Keep looking" was all he said in response as he made his way back to the elevator. There was so much he wanted to say to her, but he was focused on Ducky now, and anything else would have to wait.

A few hours later there was a break in the case; "Boss, we checked the traffic cameras and located the tan sedan the neighbors reported seeing leaving Ducky's house." Gibbs stares at McGee waiting for him to continue "spit it out McGee" was his invitation. "Well…Boss…we found it, and ran the license plate and it came back to…um…Gerald." Before he could reply his phone rang and without looking to see who it was he answered "Gibbs."

"It's Gerald Gibbs, Gerald has Ducky." Abby shouted over the phone

"Fingerprint on the envelope?" he asked

"Yeah, you do know why he never came back don't you?" she says as he begins to sense the worry in her voice

"Ducky said he found another job, why?"

"Not true Gibbs. He failed his psychiatric evaluation. NCIS terminated him and Ducky didn't want any of you knowing." She says forcefully.

"Thanks Abbs" he responded as he hung the phone up and turned to the rest of the team gathered around the bullpen. "I want to know everything Gerald has been up, and I want a search warrant for his house."

It'd taken them less than 24 hours to find Ducky and return him to his mother unharmed. When searching Gerald's house they'd found a receipt for a storage facility that he had rented. They found Ducky sitting on the floor in the corner, and Gerald asleep in his car in the parking lot. "You ok Duck?" Gibbs asked. "I'm fine Jethro, just a few scraps and bruises. It's not me I'm worried about. Have you located Gerald?" Ducky responds as Gibbs is lifting him to his feet. "He's in custody; we found him in his car outside, Tony & McGee are with him." Now on his feet, and at an elevated pace Ducky makes his way outside to Gerald as he shouts "he needs a doctor Jethro, not restraints." After a short conversation with Gerald making sure that he was ok, Ducky looks to Gibbs and says "a word Jethro, in private." Gibbs followed Ducky away from the team.

"Jethro, I'm taking Gerald to Bethesda. He's agreed to check into the psychiatric unit for evaluations and treatment."

Jethro nods "the judge will most likely agree"

"No judge Jethro. He's a good man who's fallen on hard times, and he's my friend. I'm taking him to Bethesda to get him the help he needs."

Gibbs stares at Ducky and knows that there is nothing he can do to stop him, and that he doesn't really want to either. "You're a good man duck" he says as they turn to make their way back to the team, and Gerald.

Gibbs escorted Ducky and Gerald to Bethesda, and sent the rest of the team back to the office. He wanted the doctors to examine Ducky just to make sure he was ok, and there was no way that he was going to leave Ducky alone with Gerald; regardless of Ducky's assurances that he would be fine.

The team was entering the bullpen when Abby meant them. "So everything is fine with Ducky right?" she asked. "He's fine, Gibbs is taking him to get checked out, and to get Gerald checked in. He's going to be just fine." McGee was happy to report. "Oh, thank you, thank you. I was so worried" was her response as she just about jumped into McGee's arms rendering him useless under the full onslaught of Abbyness. Tony & Ziva had returned to their desk by the time Abby had released McGee, "It's been nice seeing you all again, but I've got to get going" she said as she made her way to the elevators. What she really wanted to do was to see Ducky and make sure for herself that he was ok, but she knew that Gibbs was with him, and that would only lead to trouble for her. Tony turns to her surprised and says "you're leaving, why don't you stay the rest of the weekend?" Abby turns and walks back towards the team "because the case is over, Ducky is OK, thank God, which means my temporary reassignment has ended, I've had my birthday party and by the way thanks again guys, and because I was supposed to check out of the hotel earlier this afternoon."

"Actually Abby, I have you on reassignment through the end of next week" Jenny said as she approached the group. "Ok…then…what am I supposed to do all next week?" she asks unsure of whether this is a good thing or not. "Well Abby, I believe that there is an offer on the table, and maybe you could use the time to consider it" Jenny replied as she made her way past the group towards her office. Abby tried her best not to show her defeated look, but knew she was outmatched. "What's she talking about Abbs, what offer?" Tony & McGee asked in unison. She didn't want to answer them now, not until she was able to process it all, and figure out what she was going to do. "Nothing…McGee, can I catch a ride with you back to the hotel?" McGee could see the internal debate she was having and figured it wasn't the time to pressure her for an answer; he put his arm around her shoulder and escorted her to the elevator, and into his car.

She was so confused about everything. She really did love NCIS, and these last 24 hours just solidified that for her. They had just exited the Navy Yard when Abby's eyes locked on the park bench that had occupied so much of her time the night before last. "Pull over Tim" she says as she takes her eyes of the bench to focus on his face "I need to ask you a question." He was pretty sure what she was going to ask given their location, but didn't want to have to answer her. He pulls the car to the curb and shifts it into park before looking to her with his best "I didn't do anything" expression. She'd seen that look before, and she knew immediately that he was guilty of something. "Timyyyyy, tell me you didn't. Tell me you had nothing to do with me waking up in Gibb's bed" she says. He extends his fake smile as far as possible before admitting defeat "I…I didn't want to, but they made me do it." She drops her head for a moment "why would you do that to me, you of all people, and something tells me that you were more than a willing participant." He drops his head "I know it wasn't the best approach Abby, but….but you know what…we all love you, both of you, and the last thing that we want is for you two to wake up one day and realize that you've thrown away something that could've been great; something that most people never find. I understand that you're angry with me, and don't think that I don't know that Gibbs is going to kill us when he finds out. I know that it wasn't really our place to but in, but neither of you left us any options, but don't think that this was all about the two of you, it had a lot to do with self preservation, our preservation." She locks into his eyes "you're right about one thing, it isn't your place. You have no idea how hard it's been." He returns her stare "that's where you're wrong Abbs. We do know we see it everyday, maybe not from you, but definitely from Gibbs. He's become impossible to work with, he's alienated half on NCIS just for starters, not the mention the five scientists he's driven away out of sheer fear. I could go on." The car fell silent for a few minutes before McGee grabs her hand and asks "are we ok?" She squeezes his hand and nods her head before saying "it isn't cool what you guys did, but I think I'll let Gibbs be the one to hand out the punishments seeing how he has such a flare for it." She leans over to him and kisses him on the cheek and motions for him to drive on. He shifts the car back into gear and drives for a few minutes before saying "I should probably tell you that Tony took pictures with his phone." She giggles and turns to him "and he'll pay for that."

Gibbs dropped Ducky off at home and waited for him to get settled before heading back to the office to finish up some paperwork. He knew that she would be gone by now, and that she wouldn't want to see him; especially after what happened the night before. He hadn't had any time to put the pieces together yet, and as he was passing the security gate into the Navy yard it hit him. He slammed his foot on the brakes, and the car into reverse. Reaching the guard shack he parks the car and approaches Lieutenant Miller. "Special Agent Gibbs, what can I do for you?" Gibbs points his stare into the man "Well, Lieutenant, I'd like you to tell me what happened the night you called me to assist Miss Scuito in the park." Miller's eyes immediately told him that he wasn't surprised by the question. Miller begins "after you arrived it seemed that Miss Scuito wasn't happy to see you, I mean judging from …well…the fact that she hit you" Gibbs interrupts and closes the distance between them, "she didn't hit me, she slapped me, and do you think I need you to tell me that?" Miller straightens up to stand at attention "No Sir." Gibbs meets his attention with a nod "continue" he says. "Well, after a while I noticed that you and Miss Scuito…were…um…sleeping, so I called Special Agent DiNozzo to assist you and.." Miller pauses when he sees the discomfort settle in over Gibbs "what are you waiting for" Gibbs asks. "Agents DiNozzo, David, and McGee arrived several minutes later and carried both you and Miss Scuito to the car and drove away." Gibbs hesitates for a moment before he takes a step back "is that all" he asks? Lieutenant Miller is grateful for the distance and answers "Yes Sir." Gibbs gets back in his car and slams his hands on the steering wheel "Son of a Bitch DiNozzo!" was all that Lieutenant Miller could make out as he sped away.

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More Gabby coming soon!! What do'ya think?


	16. Chapter 16

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McGee and Abby said goodbye to each other as she got out of his car and headed for the hotel, and before the door was even shut he was dialing Tony. He didn't wait for the formalities of Tony's "hello" before he says "Abby knows Tony." There was a moment of silence before Tony registers what McGee is talking about "you told her didn't you McDoogle" Tony begins to chuckle "we knew you'd fold and tell her." "Tony" McGee said "she asked me point blank, what was I supposed to do, lie to her?" McGee hears Tony start to laugh and starts putting the pieces together "wait…you guys wanted me to tell her didn't you?" Tony tried to stop laughing and says "yes Sherlock that was the plan. We know you can't lie, especially to Abby. So we knew you would tell her, and she would tell Gibbs, which means they would be talking, and with any luck fixing this thing between them, so way to take one for the team McGee!" Before McGee could get a word in, he heard the phone disconnect, and for a brief moment he was angry, until he realized that it didn't really matter how it happened, because as soon as Gibbs figured out what they'd done they were all going to pay for it.

Gibbs had been parked in the hotel parking garage for a few minutes gathering his thoughts before he made his way to the front desk to ask them to ring her room. He was going to tell her what he'd found out about the night in the park, and how he felt; about everything. He was nervous as hell until he heard the man behind the counter say "I'm sorry Sir, but Miss Scuito has already checked out," and now he just felt empty. Lost.

He pulled up to his house and was taken back when he saw her sitting on his steps. "Abby, I thought you left" he says as he makes his way to her. "Nope, Jenny had me reassigned until next Friday" she answers as he takes a seat next to her. She stands and turns to face him as she says "I wanted to tell you that I don't blame you for what happened the other night, not that I ever really did, and I thought you might want to know that the three of them brought us here, and that Tony took pictures, with his cell phone." Based on the look on his face she knew that he'd already figured it out. "You knew about this?" she asked. He hesitated briefly "I figured out what they did, but I didn't know about the pictures." He stood to meet her causing her to take a few steps back before she says "thanks for the voicemail, and…I miss you too" as she turns towards the street to walk away. He reaches for her arm and without turning her around says "Abby, please don't walk away" with a catch in his voice. "Gibbs…I…ca.." was all she managed to get out before he'd stepped in front of her locking onto her eyes and whispering "stay." She dug deep for the willpower to say "I want to, I really do, I miss you. You were my best friend, the person I wanted beside me through everything; the person who made me feel things I didn't even know were possible; the one person that could make me bust out laughing when all I wanted to do was cry, but that's all gone now, and staying with you will cost me too much because at some point I'm going to have to leave. I've worked too hard to move past this, to move past you, that I can't afford to go back to that place knowing that I'm just going to end up right here again when its over." With tears forming, she attempts to pull away when he steps back in front of her and brings his forehead to hers before whispering "what if you didn't have to leave" as he brings his lips to hers. He could feel her hesitation at first, but when he moved his hand to the small of her back pulling her closer to him he felt her give in and surrender her mouth to his. Feeling the need to breath, they broke and he replaced his forehead on hers "Abbs, come inside with me" he asked and after seeing her head nod approvingly he grabbed her hand and lead her into the house and onto the couch while he went to make coffee.

Part of her was so overwhelmed with what just happened that she'd follow him anywhere, but the other part of her, the bigger part, was pissed because he'd broken her, and she knew it was only going to end badly for her.

He made his way back into the living room taking up residence in the chair next to her. "Gibbs I…" Gibbs breaks in "Abbs, I need to tell you some things, things I should've told you a long time ago. I need to tell you that I love you, that I'm in love with you and have been for a very long time, and that I've known that I was in love with you for just as long. When Shannon died she took so much of me with her, that all that was left were pieces of me; some I've managed to pick up over the years and replace, while others still lay with her. You scared the hell out of me. When you stood here and told me how you felt, and the type of love you were looking for, I knew exactly what you were talking about because I had it with Shannon, and now with you. You've made me feel things that I never thought I could again; you made me love like that again, and I didn't handle it well. I took it and you for granted. I was selfish enough to think that you would always be here, that you would settle for what I was willing to give you. You leaving was something I never expected, and it made me realize that my life without you in it is in as many pieces as it was when Shannon died. I don't want to live like that anymore; I don't want to live without you anymore." He slid off the edge of the chair to his knees in front of her with his hands on her thighs and tears in his eyes he says "I am so sorry Abbs" as he reaches us to wipe the tears from her cheeks he whispers "stay with me?"


	17. Chapter 17

Thanks again for the reviews….they're great.

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She didn't know what to say. For as long as she can remember she'd wanted him, and now he's telling her that he wants the same. She'd dreamt about it many times; how it would feel to be with him, and how romantic it would all be when they finally admitted how the felt; certain that he was her happily-ever-after. The only thing she is certain of now is her confusion and anger at the situation. She was wandering further into her thoughts before he brings his hand to her face and whispers her name. Knowing he's waiting for her answer, she placed her hand on his to remove it while saying "we need to talk about all of this, but I need you to give me some space first. There needs to be some distance between us before we do something that we can't take back. I need to be able to think straight, and I can't do that with you touching me like that." Not really sure if this was a good or bad thing, he hesitated before standing and making his way back to the chair.

"Is this far enough?" he asked somewhat sarcastically

"Not quite" was her response as she relocated to the chair opposite him on the other side of the living room "but this should do"

After a few minutes of silence she asks "why did you wait so long to tell me all of this if you've known for so long how you felt? Why did I have to loose everything?"

"I didn't tell you to leave Abbs."

"No, but by turning your back on me and shutting me out you made it impossible for me to stay."

"I know that now, and I'm sorry for that, but I never expected you to leave, and after a while I began to think that you were better off; that you were happy. I wanted that for you; I still do."

"How could you think that I would be happy, you of all people know how much I loved my life here, and you should've known that leaving was one of the hardest things I've ever done."

"I do know that now, and I knew it then, but when you told me you how you felt it sent me into a tail spin. I wasn't thinking clearly, and I didn't handle it well. When you told me that you loved me, it made everything I've been feeling for you real. I couldn't hide behind the fact that you didn't feel the same way anymore, but I didn't know if I was capable of giving you what you needed either. When I finally realized that I could love you with the lights on, I saw you with him. I thought you were happy and that I was too late."

"You saw me with who?"

"Josh"

"You thought I was happy with Josh?"

"Well why wouldn't I?"

"He was just my neighbor"

"Since when did sleeping with your neighbor become such a casual affair?"

"What?"

"Come on Abbs, I saw you. I saw the way he was touching you, and the way that you were kissing him. You looked pretty damn happy to me."

"So you were watching me?"

"I came to talk to you, but you seemed a bit preoccupied."

"So you just left?"

"What was I supposed to do Abbs? Crawl into bed with the two of you?"

"Just so you know, I picked up the phone three times that night to call you, and the only reason I even went out with Josh was so that I could stop thinking about you, which by the way didn't work."

"So you're telling me that you sleeping with him is my fault?"

"No, what I'm telling you is that I didn't sleep with him."

She could see the relief in his eyes, and he knew that she saw it. "Abbs, I want to fix this, I want to fix us."

"I don't know "what us" to fix. I've never missed anybody like I do my best friend. I'd do anything to have him back, but every time I think of him all I see is the man sitting across from me now; the man that I've wanted so much more with for so long. So how do I have one man without loosing the other? How do I choose one over the other?"

He saw the steady flow of tears making their way down her face and made his way to her reaching to hold her hands in his he stood her up wrapping his arms around her he says "you don't choose between them Abbs, they're the same man."

She wasn't exactly sure what came over her, but when she pushed him away saying "the same man who's put me through hell the last few months" she knew it was a harsh reaction and that she'd let her anger get the best of her. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean for it to come out that way, but I've got a lot to figure out, and I think I should just go" was the last thing she said before scurrying to the door to leave.

He had all he could do to not jump in front of her to stop her from leaving, but knew he couldn't. He'd said what he had to say, and she needed some time to process it; time that he was willing to give her.

It was only a few hours later when she walked through his door and down his basement stairs looking at nothing but the floors she was walking on. She made her way to him stopping just inches short. She slowly raised her head and locked her eyes into his…took a deep breath…exhaled, wrapped her arms around his neck and took his lips in hers. It was a mere second before he responded and kissed her back.

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Update soon to follow…hope you enjoy


	18. Chapter 18

Thanks again for the reviews...love reading them!!

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Everything around them had disappeared; they were lost in each other. He was holding the back of her head with one hand, and her the small of her back in the other as he pulled her as close to him as he could to deepen the kiss. The pain and anger; she let it all go and resigned herself to his embrace equaling his desire as she kissed him back. It was the most comfort either of them had felt in months. He'd turned her to put her back against the wall and surrounds her with himself. Pulling his lips from hers and relocating them to her ear he whispers "Abbs, don't do this if you don't mean it…if you're not sure." She buries her face in his neck taking in his scent and kisses her way to his ear and in a return whisper replies "ya know it's not polite to keep a girl waiting." That was all he needed to hear as he pushed himself further into her pinning her against the wall and kissing her with urgency, force, and passion. Just as he was about to pick her up and carry her to his bed his cell phone started to ring, and before his quit, hers began. "This can't be good" he said as they each reached for their phones. They had a case. He reached for her hand and walked her up the basement stairs and headed to the front door. With one hand opening the door and the other still holders hers, he turned to her, pushed the door shut behind him, wrapped her in his arms and gently kissed her until he felt the shake in both of their knees. He pulls away, locks into her eyes as he says "I love you Abby, never doubt that" before he wraps his hand in hers and leads her through the door and into the car.

Gibbs drove with one hand on the wheel and the other on her inner thigh, and it didn't take long for them to realize that they needed to have a game plan before they arrived at the office, but there wasn't enough time to sort out all of the details. They'd decided to keep things under wraps for the time being until they had a better idea as to how to they wanted to handle it. Neither one of them had any idea how they were going to keep their hands and minds off of each other when all they wanted to do was to finish what they started in his basement. He wasn't complaining, but he was curious as to why Jenny would call Abby in to work a standard case when she worked for the FBI now. Which he made a mental not to harass her about later; he thought she traded down by accepting their job offer. She knew that the only reason Jenny had called her in was to tempt her to come back to NCIS. They weren't especially close, but Jenny knew that the more time Abby spent there the harder it would be for her to walk away. Just as they were about to pull into the Navy Yard he turned to her with fire in his eyes "DiNozzo" was all he said. He was still pissed at his team, but mainly at DiNozzo because he had no doubt that is was his idea to put them in bed together. Seeing the anger, she suggested "don't tip your hand just yet, let's take some time to figure out a suitable punishment for all of them. Let them know you're pissed, but don't let on as to why, and I'll do the same." Nodding his head in approval he replies "have I told you that I love you" as he reached for her hand and kisses the back of it.

Gibbs and his team were at the crime scene when Jenny entered the lab. "Abby, how are you?" she asked as she leaned against the table directly behind her. "I'm ok" she replied in an attempt to keep her answers direct and to the point to avoid the conversation she was sure the Director wanted to have. Jenny wasn't about to beat around the bush, she preferred the direct approach. "Abby, have you given any more thought to returning to NCIS?" Abby turned to face her while pulling up a stool and settling in knowing she wasn't going to avoid the conversation. "I have, but I haven't come to a decision yet, there are some things I need to work out first." Crossing her arms in discontent Jenny says "Abby, I know this is none of my business per say, and please feel free to correct me if my assumptions are inaccurate, but I believe that I have a pretty good idea why you left. I believe his name is Gibbs." Jenny knew she hit the nail on the head when the saw the expression on Abby's face, and Abby wanted nothing more than to have Gibbs be the one to be answering her questions about them. Jenny continued "now I don't know what the current situation between the two of you is, but I wanted to let you know that if it is what I think it is or could be it would be tolerated." Abby was slightly taken back "meaning what exactly?" "Meaning that although an intimate relation amongst coworkers is frowned upon, there is no written policy stating that it would be unacceptable, and given the history of dedication that you both harness, it certainly would be tolerated. I just wanted you to know that I'm not asking you to choose." Abby was trying desperately not to give anything away by way of facial expressions, she just wanted out of this conversation "I appreciate your candor Director, and if that's all, I have evidence to process." "Fair enough" Jenny replied, "I'll expect an answer by the end of the week" as she exited the lab.

Gibbs and team had returned about an hour ago and were all heading down to the lab to check on Abby's results. Abby couldn't help but notice the tension amongst them as soon as they entered. Gibbs was playing his part well; he had all three of them on high alert. She waited until only Gibbs could she her when she signed "it's my turn, play along" she saw the smirk on his face and new he'd be a willing participant.

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More coming soon!!


	19. Chapter 19

Sorry for the delay. Thanks to everyone for all of the reviews and kind words, they're great. Hope you enjoy!

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She hated to do this; she hated to cry in front of anybody. This wasn't about emotions though, it was payback, and drawing from the activities of the past few months it was surprisingly easy for her. She turned to face the team when she was confident that she had just the right amount tears flowing and delivers her findings.

"DNA confirmed it, Mrs. Arnold was impregnated by her best friends husband." She drops her head and shrugs her shoulders while making her way through the team and to the exit saying "friends are overrated, they're the first ones to screw you" between sobs.

Gibbs turns and nonchalantly heads towards the exit "coffee run" was all he said on his way out making sure to head in the opposite direction that she had. He didn't want them to think he was going after her.

Tony, Ziva, and McGee stood in wonder at what just actually happened. Ziva was the first to break the silence with "you do realize that that was directed at us don't you?"

Tony steps to McGee locking into his eyes with intimidation "I thought you said Abby was ok with what happened."

"She wasn't happy about it, but she certainly wasn't this upset by it either Tony"

"Well then probie, how do you explain what just happened then?"

"Well, Tony, maybe it has nothing to do with us at all. She did say that she would leave the punishments to Gibbs."

Just as Tony was beginning to internally justify McGee's explanation, Ziva asks "when was the last time you saw Abby upset and Gibbs head in the other direction?"

Tony and McGee turn to look at her before turning back to each other taking in the realization that Ziva is right, and that their plan of getting the two of them together must have backfired. It seemed as if they were further apart now than they have ever been.

"So Mr. Senior Field Agent, have anymore bright ideas?" McGee asks as he makes his way to follow Abby. Grabbing McGee's arm to stop him Tony pulls him back to his "campfire."

"Let's not be to hasty here people, we don't even know for sure what's going on. I mean think about it, Gibbs was a bit pissy today sure, but not really much more than usual, and we're not dead."

Tony moves to stand between them with his index finger pointing to the light bulb over his head he continues "with this in mind, as your Senior Field Agent with finely tuned investigative skills I submit to you the following. 1. Gibbs still doesn't know what we did. 2. Abby has had a rough couple of months which explains her outburst, and tells us that it in fact it was not directed at us.

Which brings me to our plan of action…" he slowly turns his head to Ziva giving her his best impression of the Gibbs stare "…we stay the course!" Turning to McGee with the same expression he snaps "Nobody says anything!" as he leaves the lab.

Ziva and McGee share an expression of bewilderment before McGee mumbles "we're dead." "Yes McGee, we are" Ziva responds as they exit the lab together.

Gibbs, Abby and Ducky found the entire conversation rather hysterical as they watched it all unfold in autopsy via the video phone that Abby had activated while she waited for the tears to flow before she turned from her computer and made her dramatic exit.

They swore Ducky to secrecy about the plan, and inadvertently about the progress of their relationship. They should've known that he would immediately recognize the return of their mutual affections towards each other.

Returning to her lab, she began contemplating what a weird day it'd been. Sure she and Gibbs had fun torturing the team, but with Jenny's not so subtle conversation, she knew she had some decisions to make. She wasn't sure yet how she wanted to handle any of it. The only thing she was sure of is that she let her emotions get the best of her when she went to him in his basement.

She got so wrapped up in everything, his words, his touch, his smell, that all she could think about was being with him. In a way that she never thought she could. It sucked her in, it turned her brain to mush.

She made a big mistake last night when she left him to think; she never actually left the block. She went to the park around the corner of all places, and if her brain was functioning properly she would've realized that a park bench was the last place she needed to be when she was trying to get a clear perspective on their relationship given what happened last time she occupied one.

Jenny's conversation brought the reality back. She couldn't help but think that maybe his willingness towards their relationship had something to do with the fact that she no longer worked with him. All she keeps thinking about is his rule #12 (don't date your co-workers). It's his rule, he created it, and she has no doubt that he had a very good reason for doing so.

She's aware that if she accepts her position back at NCIS that it's a real possibility that she'll be ending her relationship with Gibbs before it even really got started. At that thought, she tosses her hands in surrender knowing that the decision to continue the relationship would need to be his.

If taking her job back meant loosing him as a lover then so be it. She tried leaving her home, job, and friends to create distance from a man, and if there was one thing that this mess taught her it was that she needed to be here. She needed to be here for herself, this is her home and if he couldn't handle that, then that would be his cross to bear. Besides, there was always the possibility that they could go back to being just friends. It'd kill her, but she could accept that if it meant she could have it all back.

She hates that she has to put this on him now, after what almost happened in his basement, she knows that it's not fair to him, but it needs to be done. They need to talk. She picks up her cell phone and begins typing a message.

Gibbs had been pretty busy since leaving her and Ducky in autopsy. He'd been working on the case trying to keep the angry façade up with the team, which wasn't exactly difficult for him, but under these circumstances he was having a very hard time keeping a straight face with any of them.

His main concentration was Abby though; all he could think about was picking up where they had left off. He's wanted her for so long and when they close this case he was finally going to get to show her just that. He was working out the different scenarios of how it would go in his head, and what he decided on was a night of complete pampering and romance; she'd want for nothing by the time he was done. It's the least he could do for what he'd put her through.

He'd made arrangements with her favorite restaurant to deliver the food when he called, he'd already run home and made the table arrangements adorned with two dozen black roses, changed the sheets, and set candles throughout the bedroom. For the first time in moths he was excited; he was ready.

He flips his cell phone open in response to the odd beep it had made to read "1 new text message from Abby" not really knowing what to do he's a bit flustered until he sees the "read" button highlighted. He's immediately questioning why she would send him a text message, she should know better, but he looses the thought when it opens to read "We need to talk. Afterhours."

"This isn't good"


	20. Chapter 20

Thanks to everybody for the reviews...they keep it going!!

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It'd been a few hours since he'd received her text message, and he still wasn't any closer to figuring out what could've gone wrong now then when he first read it. He'd heard the "we need to talk" line many times before, and he'd admit that most of those times he'd agreed with them, but this one, it completely caught him by surprise.

They'd closed the case, and the sour feeling he had in his gut was telling him he wasn't in a hurry to have this conversation, but needed to nonetheless. After saying goodnight to Tony and Ziva he headed to the elevator and before the doors closed McGee had joined him.

It didn't take long for McGee to realize that Gibbs had pressed the button for the lab, and before the elevator stopped he says "Uh boss, if you're looking for Abby she's gone. She and the Director left about an hour ago." McGee could see the discontent on Gibb's face, and was suddenly very aware that he was locked in a confined space with him, and wanted out. They made it to their cars without saying another word.

He drove home expecting her to be there, or maybe hoping she'd be there, but when he walked into an empty house he flipped his phone open wondering if this could get any worst.

"Hey Gibbs"

"Abbs, where are you, I thought you wanted to talk?"

"I do, and if you're ready, I'm at the coffee shop on Central Ave."

He hesitated for a moment as any remaining thoughts that this might be a good conversation they were about to have quickly left him. "I'll be right there." He made his way to her wondering what was wrong. Replaying the day's events he struggled to figure out when things changed. The last time he saw her was when they were with Ducky and she seemed fine. Whatever it was, he was about to find out as he admired her through the coffee shop window momentarily before taking a deep breath and entering.

Approaching her table from behind he leaned down wrapped his arms around her and gently kissed her cheek, and if he didn't know any better he'd swear that she leaned into him accepting the extra seconds that he held his face to hers. He took the chair opposite of her and welcomed the coffee she had already ordered for him. "What's going on Abbs?"

Looking at her hands holding her own coffee she gathered her thoughts before saying "I know how you feel about apologies, but I think I owe you one, so I'm going to start by saying that I am truly sorry Gibbs." Before she could continue his "for what" made it to her ears.

"Look, I need to tell you some things; things I should've told you last night, but I was on sensory overload and didn't." Every inch of him was right; this was not going to be good. Looking around at the popularity of the coffee shop he asks "why here?"

"Because I can't be alone with you right now, I need to do this before we go too far and do something we can't take back." Looking a bit confused he nods his head in silence, but his thoughts are screaming for him to find a back room to drag her to before it's too late.

Seeing his nod she continues. "A few months ago if we were in the same situation we are now, I couldn't have been happier to be with you and to know every inch of you like no other, but now, things have changed. I've changed. I'm much more in tune with myself now; I know what I can live with, and what I can't live without. I love you Gibbs, in a way I didn't even know was possible until you showed me, but I can't loose myself in that love for you. I won't. I want it all Gibbs, I want to live in a city that I love, get up every morning excited to go to the job that I love, and rush home every night to the man that I love. I want it all, and when I took a long look at my current situation, it became blatantly obvious that was staring me in the face; I knew that it was never going to happen. I came to realize that having it all meant that I'd have to make some adjustments. So, I've made some decisions today, and I'm aware that some of these decisions mean that I won't be the one you come home to at night, and as hard as that will be, I feel like I've made the right decisions for the right reasons."

He was definitely curious as he impatiently waited for the other shoe to fall. His heart was on the floor but when he looked up into her eyes and saw her anguish, he knew that this wasn't easy for her and that she was struggling. In a soothing effort he reached his hand across the table placing it on top of hers "go on Abbs, what decisions did you make?"

His touch was enough to snap her back to the conversation at hand. "I meant with Jenny this evening, and accepted her job offer to return to NCIS effective next month, and along with that it's obvious that I will be relocating back here." She slides her hand out from his and interlocks her fingers with his "the hardest part was knowing that accepting her offer meant that I was rejecting your love. I'm fully aware of rule number 12, and I wouldn't ask you to compromise yourself by breaking it, so I'm not asking you to choose, I'm accepting it. I mentioned earlier that I know what I can and can't life without, and I do, I know that I can't live without you in my life, so after all the dust settles, I truly hope that you can forgive me for last night and understand about the decisions I've made so we can work on rebuilding our friendship."

She slid her hand out of his and stood to lean in and meet his lips with her own for a short soft kiss before pulling slightly away and whispering "I love you Gibbs, don't ever doubt that." She turned leaving the coffee shop and him.

She was proud of herself for telling him everything, but that alone didn't make it hurt any less. She hadn't even made it out of the coffee shop before the tears started falling. It was one of the hardest things she'd ever done. She loved him with every piece of her, she truly believed that he was a part of her, but also knew that being true to herself meant that she had to take the job and come home.

He couldn't fault her for what she'd done, she did what she had to do to make herself happy, and above anything else, he wanted that for her, he wanted her to be happy. No matter how he rationalized it to himself, it did nothing for the hurt and anger that he felt at the realization that it was over before it ever really got started.

He'd actually forgotten about the night of romantic pampering he had planned for her tonight, so when he wandered into his kitchen the first thing to hit the floor was the vase of black roses he had planned as the table centerpiece, followed by the champagne glasses and plates. Within seconds the table was cleared into pieces on the floor.

He couldn't bring himself to go into his bedroom tonight as he remembered all of the candles he'd spread around the room in anticipation of an unforgettable first time with Abby. He couldn't go into the basement because he couldn't stop staring at the part of the wall that held her so close to him just a few hours ago. He settled for the now empty bottle of bourbon and the couch.

Lying on the couch with a clear view of the kitchen floor, it hit him, he'd seen the same thing in McGee's apartment the night that she'd left him. He starts thinking back to that night and the reasons Abby gave him for leaving McGee. He remembers that she'd left him because she didn't love him like he did her, and she wanted it all. He knew that he was ok in the love department, he had no doubts that she loved him, and he the same. The wanting it all thing is a different story, and now that he is really thinking about it, he knows he should've seen it coming. He remembers McGee telling him that the hardest thing he'd ever witnessed was the sight of Abby walking away from him, Gibbs now agreed.

He needed to see Abby

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More Gabby to come soon!!


	21. Chapter 21

**Sorrry I didn't get a change to respond to the reviewers, for the last chapter. I grovel...please keep them coming, I thank you for all of them. Hope you enjoy!**

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He decided to wait until after work tonight to talk to her, thinking that maybe she needed some time after the conversation they had last night. Besides, he needed some time to figure out exactly how he was going to tell her. He had all of the major points down, but he wanted it to be perfect. Not that he hadn't spent the entire night running different scenarios in his head, he had all he could do not to run to her last night, because all rules aside, it was no longer about wanting Abbs, it was about needing her, in every sense.

The day went particularly slow for him, especially considering that word of her return had begun to spread, and he was hearing her name mentioned around every corner. He was about to head home when Ducky approached his desk.

"Jethro, I've been waiting to speak with you all day, it seems that you've been rather elusive. I can't help but wonder if that may have something to do with the return of your favorite lab rat and mine?"

Gibbs let a smirk escape the corner of his mouth before bringing his commitment to the conversation. "Duck, you would've been so proud of her last night. She is absolutely amazing, so determined, strong, and independent. Abbs is back!" Duck could see the glow surrounding him, and momentarily waited for him to elaborate.

Ducky was never one to pry for information, it was usually offered to him, but in this case, he couldn't help himself. "Am I to assume by the recent turn of events that you two have fixed your….situation?"

"Not entirely, but I intend to. We've talked, and long story short, we know how we feel about each other, and we're working on it." Ducky expressed a look of concern before Gibbs decided to relieve it by telling him that "it's been a process, but I am on my way to her tonight to 'cement' things." Ducky felt the red in his cheeks as he began to blush, "what are you waiting for then?"

Gibbs stood to walk his friend out replying with his itinerary "coffee, shower, then Abbs, and with any luck, all Abbs!"

As soon as she heard the elevator doors shut she hastily revealed herself from behind Gibb's cubicle, she'd heard the entire conversation. She'd heard about Abby's return, and was furious. She'd been trying to get a job here for years, and she finally had it, and now, on Abby's return she was loosing it. Director Shephard's demeanor had been friendly when she informed her of such this morning, but it made no difference.

She'd spent the entire day gathering intel on Abby, and the circumstances of her departure. Scuttlebutt had informed her of Abby's reasons for leaving, and what everybody assumed where her reasons for returning; Gibbs. It'd taken her the better part of the day to formulate her plan, but it was in place. Her theory: end Abby and Gibbs, and keep her dream job.

She hurried out of the building being careful not to be seen. She'd actually snuck past Gibbs and Ducky as they said their goodbyes to beat him to the coffee shop. She waited for him to place his order and just as he was turning to leave she called his name "Agent Gibbs" causing him to turn and seek the source. His eyes stopped on the only face he remotely recognized; the interim. He'd never taken the time to learn any of the names of the Forensic Scientists that Jenny had hired as a replacement for Abby.

She waved him over, and he nearly waved her off until she hollered his name louder and followed it with a "please." He reluctantly made his was to her table in the corner checking the time on his watch as he walked. Arriving at her table he provided his traditional head nod, for no other reason than he didn't know her name.

"Agent Gibbs, I just wanted to thank you for the opportunity to work with both you and your team, it was both a privilege and an honor. I look forward to working with you again in the future." She stretched her arm out to shake his hand spilling her coffee all over the table, floor, and his shoes.

"Agent Gibbs, I am so sorry, let me get that." Putting his coffee down on the table and reaching for the napkin dispenser, "No, I got it" was all he said as he bent down to wipe his shoes.

As soon as he bent down she tipped the lip to his coffee, poured the fine powder in, and resealed it before he stood. They said there goodbyes and Gibbs turned to leave mumbling "kiss ass" under his breath, thankful that that encounter was over.

She displayed a devilish grin as she watched him leave the coffee shop. She was careful to leave enough distance between them as she followed him home. His mind was so preoccupied that he hadn't noticed; she counted on that for her plan to work. She knew how long it would take before the drug began to take effect and he started to teeter on the edge of sanity and she patiently waited for it while she changed into her 'Abby attire' which included a jet black wig adorned with pony tails, short tight fitting shirt, short skirt, and combat boots.

Silently making her way through his house, she came upon him in his bedroom still wet from him shower, and having a very difficult time getting dressed. She hesitated slightly before making her move.

"Gibbs, I missed you" she said excitedly as she hurried to him wrapping him in her version of an Abby hug. He wrapped his arms around her as she steadied him. "Abbs, I was on my way to see you" was all he managed to get out before she kissed him.

As soon as she knew that it was safe; that he wouldn't remember anything that was going on, or be able to tell the difference between herself and Abby, she removed the wig and kissed him again. This time she held the untraceable phone she had purchased in her left hand and she steadied him in her right and began to take pictures of the two of them kissing.

Satisfied with those, she made her way to the bed to rustle the bedding and place him there. She waited for him to close his eyes into oblivion before she stripped herself of her clothes and lay beside him making sure that he was in full naked contact with her from head to toe. His arms wrapped tightly around her and his head resting on hers. She propped her phone up and set the timer for the camera and interlocked her fingers with his and shut her eyes waiting for the phone to start taking pictures.

After reviewing the pictures, she removed all evidence of the events and made her escape from his house. It's perfect she thought to herself as she drove off.

She scanned through the photos several times when she got home picking a few that showed the most detail. She needed to make sure that there was no mistaking that it was actually Gibbs in the photos, that there was enough background in the images for her to recognize the location, and that the date and time stamp was clearly visible as well. The latter was very important after overhearing the conversation that Gibbs and Ducky had; she knew that Abby needed to know that his happened tonight, and not any other night to have the most effect.

She decided that sending them to Abby's cell phone and email address was sure to double her pain, so as she bundled them all into one message she typed "thought you should know" before she hit the send key.

Abby was cleaning her new apartment in preparation for the big move when she heard her cell phone ring indicating a new message. She flipped it open and slowly, painstakingly toggled through the images. "What the fuck!" could've been heard from the street as she slid down the wall to the floor as she flipped through the images a second time. She stared at the phone for what seemed like hours as the tears ran down her face. It wasn't until she squinted at the images for the fifth time that she looked into the details of the message to try and figure out who had sent them. Unknown sender was all that the phone displayed.

It wasn't until she was just about to throw the phone that she saw the tag attached to the message indicating that it was sent to her email as well. Opening up her laptop and immediately checking her email any hope that it was not Gibbs in the photos was instantly gone, and the question of "who the hell is that slut" was burning inside her.

She had so many questions like who the hell would do this? Who took the pictures? Why would they send them from an untraceable phone? Her emotions took over and her sense of caring about any of those things completely left her because the scientist in her could tell that the images weren't doctored, and there was no denying that it was Gibbs in them, and that based on the time stamp it happened tonight. She dropped her head in disgust at the date stamp etched into her brain "he couldn't even wait 24 hours" left her lips as she felt the stream of tears intensify.

Each time she flipped through the email images her pain intensified. I took her a few minutes to collect herself and dry her eyes before she succumbed to her worst fear; Gibbs didn't want her anymore. She had her answer; Gibbs couldn't break his rule to be with her.

She could eat off of the floors by the time she had finished. She fell to a slump back against the wall exhausted before telling herself that "the lines were drawn, you know where you stand now. You made your decisions and put the ball in his court and he played his game. He made his decisions, you can't be angry with him for it, you have no claim to him now, and you have no voice in the matter. It's over."

She got cleaned up and tried to compose herself before she left for her dinner with McGee. Today was McGee's birthday and she'd invited him to dinner with her to celebrate, not knowing that she was going to fell like the dirt in the bottom of her shoes. Nonetheless, she knew the he was looking forward to it and wasn't going to let him down.

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More to come soon...


	22. Chapter 22

**Thanks again everybody for the reviews...Keep'em coming...I Love to read them!!**

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Several hours had passed and Gibbs was beginning to wake from his trance. He was confused for sure, and had one hell of a headache. "What the hell happened" he asked himself as he brings his hands to his forehead wincing in pain. He lay motionless trying to alleviate the throbbing and figure out what happened. Turning to look at the clock along side his bed he jumped up "shit! Abby!" was all he said as he made his way back to the shower.

At a lost, the only conclusion he could come to was that he must have gotten out of the shower and laid down for a minute and fallen asleep even though he has absolutely no recollection of it. After calling himself every name in the book he headed down to the kitchen for some coffee and aspirin.

Abby's dinner with McGee had been pretty uneventful if you discount the fact that he knew immediately that she was upset and pushed her until she had told him what had happened. She not only told him, she showed him the pictures on her phone.

McGee immediately recognized the women in Gibb's bed, and when he told her that it was her replacement in the photos it ripped her heart out. He tried to console her, and control his anger at Gibbs throughout the dinner. Neither of them ended up eating anything.

After a few hours and a lot of alcohol Abby had seemed to calm down enough to accept McGee's offer to stay with him tonight. They made their way back to McGee's place in alcohol induced laughter, but it didn't take long before the events of the day pulled Abby into a state of unconsciousness.

McGee gently placed her into his bed and tucked her in before leaving her a note saying "be back shortly, make yourself comfortable" on the counter and locking the door behind him.

He never would've thought he could be so angry, and part of him couldn't believe what he was about to do. He didn't bother to knock or slam the door behind him as he stormed into Gibb's house. He immediately spotted Gibbs in his kitchen and just as he did Gibbs turned and saw McGee coming. Still feeling a bit groggy, he hadn't spotted him soon enough.

McGee just about flew across the kitchen, took aim and punched him hard enough in the face to make him loose his balance and fall to the floor. "You son of a bitch!" was all Gibbs heard on his way down.

Gibbs quickly recovered before McGee nailed him again in just about the same spot. "Stay down you worthless piece of shit if you don't want another one!" was the next thing out of McGee's mouth. Gibbs began to stand again before McGee tackled him to the floor with more force than either one of them knew he had. "You rotten bastard!" was spewed from McGee as he laded punch after punch. It hadn't lasted long before McGee started receiving an equal amount of punches. Slamming Gibbs to the ground once more he stood and yelled "you're not worth" as he began to make his way to leave "fucking asshole" was the last thing he said before getting into his car and speeding off.

His hands were shaking and he was beginning to feel the pain of the few punches Gibbs was able to land. The reality of what he'd just done began to set in forcing him to pull over and gather himself. "I can't believe I just did that! I kicked Gibb's ass! I can't wait to tell Tony!"

Little did he know that Gibbs was barely conscious when he walked in to him, Gibbs knew that the outcome would've much different if that hadn't been the case. He had no idea what just happened, or why, or if his head was even still attached. He made his way to his bathroom to survey the damage, not believing what he was seeing, let alone that McGee had been able to inflict that much damage.

Part of him was proud, he had no idea McGee could be so forceful, and the other part was just down right pissed that it happened at all. Heading towards his bed he tells himself that "I can't believe that McGee kicked my ass, Tony is going to have a field day with this!"

If his head was pounding before McGee, it was being hit with a jackhammer now. He knew he couldn't see Abby like this, not now, and as if he wasn't pissed off enough at McGee, the fact that he couldn't see Abby tonight just made it worst. He laid his head back and closed his eyes trying to figure out what he did to piss McGee off so bad, and how he was going to deal with it when he saw him in the morning.

The next morning Abby woke up with a bit of a headache herself, but headed to the shower after realizing the McGee had already left for work. She grabbed some breakfast and decided to give Ducky a call before she left.

"Abigail, I'm surprised to hear from you" he answered without the courtesy of a hello. Taken back a bit Abby asks "Why?' "I figured you'd be a bit um…preoccupied this morning" was his response.

Abby assumed he was talking about her moving and replied "I am, I'm just gonna clean up the mess I made in McGee's kitchen, but my flight doesn't leave for 2 hours so I thought I would call and say hello."

"Why are you cleaning McGee's kitchen?" he asked beginning to show his signs of confusion. "Well, he let me crash with him last night and I just made some breakfast. I wouldn't be cool of me not to clean up my mess now would it Duck Man?"

"I suppose not my dear. So when will I see you again?" he asks trying to fish for information. "I'll be back in a few days; the movers are coming later today to start packing my stuff up, and then I'll be back." They continued with their 'about everything and nothing' conversation, each of them having a feeling that there is something the other isn't saying before disconnecting.

The only conclusion Ducky was able to come to was that Gibb's attempt to 'cement things' had failed miserably if she had spent the night with McGee. "That's too bad" he thought to himself, wondering what it meant for both of them.

He'd barely gotten the thoughts out of his head before McGee walked through his doors asking him to stitch up a small cut under his eye. "Well, Timothy, you should've known better than to try anything with her" he says as he recalls his conversation with Abby and assumes that she is the assailant. "Her Ducky?"

"Yes Timothy, am I correct to assume that dear Abigail made her presence know to your face last nigh?" McGee shook his head in denial "Gibbs, and I made my presence know if truth be told." Ducky took a step back, now he was really confused.

"Timothy, I demand that you tell me what the hell is going on this instant before I stitch you eyes closed instead of that cut." Ducky saw the anger filling McGee and stood his ground waiting for his response.

"Gibbs is a dirty rotten bastard for doing what he did to her, and he had it coming" McGee responses with anger dripping from his mouth. "What the hell did he do, and to whom?"

He was going to spare Ducky the long version he told himself, but truth be told it was more to benefit him. "He cheated on Abby, he slept with that forensics slut Cathy." Ducky's brain immediately began calculating what he'd just been told "surely you must be mistaken, I just talked to him last night."

"No mistake Ducky, I saw the pictures myself. He's been toying with Abby for months, and first chance he gets he takes some whore to bed to get his rocks off! So while Abby is sitting their hoping that he wants to be with her, she gets an email with pictures of him bedding another woman. It's cold Duck! He had every inch of it coming to him, and I won't apologize!"

McGee finishes filling Ducky in on the details, and before he's done, Ducky's mouth now drips with the same anger as McGee's.

It was only an hour later when Gibbs walked through Ducky's door. He was meant with a conspicuous smile. McGee was right, he did kick his ass, and he deserved it he thought to himself. Gibbs stood to face Ducky, "few stitches Duck?" he asked. Ducky took a few steps closer, meant his eyes with nothing but hostility, and slapped him in the back of the head as hard as he could. "Go to a hospital, I'm done doing for you, you make me sick Jethro!" was all he said as he left autopsy.

Gibbs stood in frustration as he watched he good friend walk away from him. "I'm getting damn tired of people hitting me" he shouted. He leaned back against a table shaking his head and wondering what the hell is going on.

As much as he wanted to know, he wanted to talk to Abby more, so he was leaving all of this "bullshit" as he called it and was going to find her. A smile crept across his face as he made his way to his car. He was finally going to be with her, all of her. He just had to find her first.

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**I've had some suggest this is getting too long and I should bring to a close, and others wanting it to continue. I can do either, let me know what you'd like to see happen.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Thank you so much for all of the reviews...I absolutely love them!!**

She'd had some time to think about the pictures that were sent to her last night and as much as it hurt her to see them, she knew they'd served their purpose. She knew now that she needed to focus on rebuilding her friendship with Gibbs. Her first order of business was to inform him of the pictures, because regardless of how they made her feel, she knew that it would infuriate him to know that they were sent. She knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't want pictures like that circulating, even if it was just to her, but she had no way of knowing how many people saw them.

The last thing she wanted to do was to think about him sleeping with another woman, but something seemed off with the pictures. She was having a hard time figuring it out. She couldn't understand how they were taken. The kissing ones were easily explained; they could've taken them themselves. What she was struggling with was how would the photos of them in bed be taken if they were both sleeping? There was only two possibilities for that: 1. either somebody else took them, and given the angle in which they were taken, they had to have been in the room with them, which she had no doubt that Gibbs would never allow, or 2. Somebody wasn't sleeping, and that was just not Gibb's style.

It was the second possibility that made her worry for him the most. Why would this Cathy chick be taking pictures of him sleeping naked, and her pretending to be? She couldn't figure it out, and to be honest, didn't really want to know. She wasn't ready to be that type of friend just yet. No way could she stand and listen to him talk about another woman so soon. She just wanted to tell him about the pictures and leave.

She dialed his number. "Abbs, I was just going to call you. Where are you?" She only hesitated for a moment "I'm at McGee's." There was a brief silence. "Why…are you there?" She knew she shouldn't let him assume anything, but just couldn't help herself after the night she'd had "Well, we went to dinner last night, had quit a few drinks, ended up back here, I decided to stay, and wow, we had a hell of a night."

His silence wasn't so brief this time as he grip on his steering wheel tightened. "Gibbs, you still there?" The sound of his breath releasing told her he was "my cab is here, so I have to go, my flight leaves in 35 minutes, but I just wanted to tell you that I had a messenger deliver a package to your house, it should be there very shortly, you should look at it. Gotta go, bye." He was still trying to catch his breath when she hung up the phone.

He threw his phone into the passenger seat "damn it Abbs!" echoed throughout the car as he turned around and headed for home, and that package. He peeled the seal open to find a handful of pages, he recognized her writing on the first page:

_Gibbs:_

_I understand now that you just want to remain as friends, and I want you to know that I respect your decision, and that I'll be ok with it. Please know that I want you to be happy, and I wish you the best with her. Oh, and FYI, these photos were sent to me anonymously last night, thought you'd like to know._

_Love, Abby_

He read her words and was confused at best, but when he began fingering through the pages that followed he was completely lost. "What the fuck is this, and who the fuck is that!!" he shouted as his hands began to tighten on the pages as he brought them closer to his face to examine them.

He sat trying to figure out what he was looking at. He knew it was him and his bedroom in the pictures, and based on the time stamp knew that they were taken last night, but the worst part was knowing that Abby had seen them. He reached for his phone and dialed her number, being surprised by the immediate response of her voicemail he slammed it down on the table.

He drops his head into his hands "now what?" were the only words that left his mouth as he tried to put all of the pieces together. Glaring at the pictures he finally recognized the woman "no way in hell I did that", but as soon as he said it hit him. He had no idea if he'd done that, because he can't remember a damn thing from last night other than the beating he took from McGee, which still pissed him off to no end. At least he now knows what he did to piss McGee off so much; Abby must've shown him these pictures.

"Probie, what the hell happened to you?" Tony asked as McGee made his way to the bullpen for the first time today. "Wait…let me guess…I should see the other guy" Tony joked as both he and Ziva headed for McGee's desk. "You, will."

"Will, what?" Tony drops his face to get a closer look. "See the other guy if he has enough balls to come sit at his desk today" McGee proudly states as he nods his head in the direction of Gibb's desk. "No way!" Tony says as a look of constipation appears on his face. "Yes, way! He damned well deserved it, and I'd do it again!"

Tony and Ziva both pulled their chairs to McGee's desk with matching shades of fear wiping their faces. "Spill" Ziva says as she plops down directly in front of him. McGee proudly filled them in on all the details, and when he was done Tony and Ziva sat expressionless until Tony stood to shake McGee's hand "you're right, he did deserve it!"

Cathy overheard the entire conversation and was rather ecstatic when it first began; she had an overwhelming feeling of success until Tony had asked McGee how and where Abby was. It was McGee's response of "she'll be back tomorrow, and that she'd be fine" that tipped her over the edge.

She wasn't going to move to phase II if it wasn't necessary, but she felt she had no choice. "Director Shepard will see you now" was what she heard before entering Jenny's office. "What can I do for you Cathy?"

"Director, I have a problem that I hope you can help me with." She hesitated momentarily "knowing that I'm not going to be here that much longer, I wasn't going to say anything, but I don't think that I can let it go."

"I'm listening."

"It's Agent Gibbs, he…um…well you see last night I bumped into him at the coffee shop and after he left I noticed that he had left his wallet behind so I went to his house to drop it off to him." She dropped her head and pinched herself to get the tears flowing.

"Cathy?"

"Well he invited me in for a moment and he suddenly became enraged and assaulted me. He…um…I was afraid for my life and he…he forced himself on me." With a steady flow of tears she raised her head to finally meet the stare of Jenny.

Jenny took a moment to process what Cathy had said "would you like to file a formal complaint?" Cathy responds "No, I want his resignation!" Jenny's brain is in overdrive as she is watching Cathy's every movement; studying her body language. "I will have to start a formal investigation before I ask for his resignation Cathy."

"I'm aware of NCIS policies Director, and what I'm offering is a compromise."

"Which is what?"

Cathy displays a small grin she thinks in unnoticeable "I'm willing to forgo the formal complaint and the media nightmare that is surely to erupt over this scandal if Agent Gibbs will tender his resignation and I remain employed as the Chief Forensics Scientist."

Jenny heard her words and knew immediately that Cathy was full of shit. What Cathy didn't know is that she walked directly into the lion's den when she tried to use Jenny against Gibbs. She had no idea of their past relationship.

Jenny's knew without doubt that Gibbs would never force himself onto anybody, let alone Cathy, only question now was how to handle it. "Ok Cathy, you'll need to give me some time to get my ducks in a row so to speak, I'll let you know when I've come to a decision." Cathy made her way to the exit exuberate in her unknown failure.

Gibbs answered his phone in anger "Gibbs!"

"Special Agent Gibbs this is Community Memorial Hospital and we have you listed as an emergency contact for a Miss Abigail Scuito. Sir, you'll need to come to the hospital as soon as possible."


	24. Chapter 24

**Thanks to everybody for the reviews and suggestions, they are greatly appreciated!! I love them!!**

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He'd called Ducky on his way to the hospital knowing that she would want him there, and that he needed him there. Regardless of how pissed off Ducky was with him, he was the only one he trusted to make sure that she would be ok. They arrived within minutes of each other.

"Jethro, how is she?"

"I don't know yet Duck, I'm still waiting for the damn doctor!"

They waited in a nervous silence for what seemed like hours before the doctor pushed through the doors "Agent Gibbs I presume?" They both stood at his arrival and forgoing any formalities Gibbs has only one question "how is she?"

"She's stable for the moment, she's got a few broken ribs, some cuts and bruises, but what we're most concerned about is her head trauma. She sustained a considerable impact to her head that has caused some minor swelling in her brain. At this point we're attempting to control the swelling externally, we're keeping a close eye on her, but you should know that if that fails, our only option is to perform surgery to relieve the pressure."

Gibbs hands immediately began forming fists at his side when he heard the words "head trauma" leave the doctor's mouth. He turned to Ducky looking for any sign that he had misheard him; it only took a second before he knew he hadn't. Turning back to the doctor, his sorrow radiating, "what happened?"

"The paramedics said that the cab she was riding in was hit head on by a supply truck."

"I want to see her."

"The nurses will take you to her as soon as they get her settled in."

He opened the door to the room and immediately felt his warmth leave him. It was a feeling that he'd had only one other time in his life; and one he hoped he'd never have to have again. He was frozen at her site. She lay motionless in front of him with her eyes beginning to blacken, her arms and face revealing the cuts and bruises the doctor had told him about. He made his way to her wishing he could take her pain away.

Dropping his mouth to her ear he whispers "Abbs" before momentarily dropping his chin to his chest to gather himself "I don't know if you can hear me, or even if you want to after what's happened" he pauses again at that thought before continuing "I know these last few months have been hell for you, and I don't have all of the answers just yet, but please don't give up on me. There are so many things that I don't know right now, and only one that I do; I love you." His words begin to catch in his throat as he struggles to continue "Abbs, I promise you that with everything in me I love you, and if you'll allow me too, I'll make sure you never doubt that again. He pulls the chair beside her bed closer and sits down beside her holding his face in his hands he mumbles "please don't give up on me" as the puddles of tears began forming on the floor at his feet "not like this."

McGee had overheard his last plea from the doorway, and he'd have to admit that he was taken back by the tears that Gibbs was shedding, but his anger was overwhelming "you've got a lot of nerve coming to her like this after what you've done." Gibbs never lifted his face from his hands "not now McGee" could barely be heard.

Ducky, Tony, Ziva and Jenny were quick on McGee's heels and had arrived at the doorway before McGee could respond. "Maybe you should take a breather Jethro, we're all here now" was Ducky's way of defusing the situation. Regrettably, Gibbs took the hint. He stood from the chair and weaved through the bodies into the hallway never once raising his eyes from the floor.

Gibbs made his way to the cafeteria in search of coffee and no sooner had he taken up residence at a table did he notice McGee heading in his direction. McGee approaches still riding the high from the night he kicked Gibbs ass with a look of sheer anger and aggression. He puts his palms down on the table, not bothering with the chair or eye contact. "You've caused enough hurt to last a lifetime. It's time for you to go home to your girlfriend, and leave mine alone!"

McGee had no illusions; he knew that as much as he loved her, she would never be his like that again. He was going to play the card anyway, he had it all planned out, he figured if he called her his girlfriend that it would piss Gibbs off enough to make him leave. The last thing she needed to hear right now was Gibbs confessing his love for her one more time, only to break her heart again. He knew that Gibbs had gotten the message as soon as he saw the jealousy draining from his eyes. "It's time for you to go!" was the last thing he said as he headed back up to Abby and the rest of the team.

Gibbs felt the jealousy creep up inside of him; at least that's what he thought it was. He'd felt just about every emotion possible in the past few days and they were beginning to take their toll on him. He didn't know if he was coming or going, what he'd done or hadn't done, what he'd said or hadn't said. Tossing his empty cup in the trash he headed to the one place that made sense; Abby.

He'd been sitting in the waiting room for a while before Jenny made her way out to him. "Jethro, McGee said you'd left?"

"McGee can say anything he wants, but I'm not leaving!"

"Look Jethro, I know this is hardly the time and place, but they told me about Cathy and the pictures, and I have to admit that I was shocked to hear it, but what I didn't tell them is that she came to see me earlier today asking for your resignation. She says you forced yourself onto her. Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"She said I did what? No way in hell!" He paused for a second before conceding "You know what Jen, the hell with it. If I could tell you, I would, but I have no clue what happened. I left the office to get coffee, shower, and go to Abby. The only part of any of that I remember is getting coffee and getting in the shower, next thing I know I've got a bitch of a headache, McGee is busting my door down and swinging at me for hurting her, Ducky is telling me that he wants nothing to do with me, Abby is sending me pictures of me in bed with Cathy that someone sent to her anonymously, the hospital tells me that Abby's been in an accident and to get here right away, McGee is telling me she is his girlfriend, and now you're telling me you want me to resign. So you know what Jen, I'd say something happened, I don't know what yet, and to be perfectly honest with you the only thing I care about now is Abby. So if giving you my resignation will make this go away, then fine, you've got it." He shot himself up from the chair tossed his badge in her lap and slammed open the exit doors to get some air.

Jenny sat in awe for a few moments after he'd stormed off, trying to take in everything that he'd said. The agent in her is beginning to take over. She immediately doubted Cathy's story at first, but when she heard about the pictures it had her thinking, but now she knew that something was definitely wrong. They've all seen Gibbs pissed, but even she had never seen him as hurt as he is now.

She instructed the team to say their goodbyes, and told them to be back at the office in 30 minutes, that they had a case.


	25. Chapter 25

**Thanks to everbody who reviewed...I apologize if I haven't returned comment as of yet, but I will. Thanks again!! Hope you enjoy...next chapter up soon.**

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Huddled around the Director's office conference table Tony, McGee, Ziva, Ducky and Jenny had discussed the situation with Cathy at length. Being protective of Abby the team was skeptical at first, but once Jenny had told them about her meeting with Cathy they almost simultaneously jumped to Gibb's defense. McGee was the only one who seemed reserved about jumping on the Gibbs bandwagon, but once he was made to realize that his feelings for Abby were clouding his judgment even he knew that Cathy had orchestrated this entire mess.

They knew that she was behind it, but now they needed to prove it. They had a plan of attack: Ziva was to go to back to the coffee shop and snoop around to get the particulars. McGee was to obtain any kind of electronic evidence of the transmission the pictures were sent in, and to obtain the actual pictures to be reviewed. Tony was to play nice with Cathy, which he knew wouldn't be a tough assignment as she had already taken to him quite nicely. Ducky was to secretly keep tabs on both Abby and Gibbs to not only keep the team informed of Abby's condition, but to make sure that Gibbs didn't decide to murder the hospital staff.

Ziva took a statement from the cashier in which she described her fondness of Gibbs, and how she can't seem to take her eyes off of him when he comes in. This explains why she remembered that when he approached Cathy's table that night she thought it was incredibly odd that that woman would be putting sugar in his coffee; she knew he always took it black.

Tony reported back saying that he and Cathy have a date tomorrow tonight, and that she was definitely willing and interested. He continued to say that based on her reactions to his interrogation, her target is definitely Abby, and not Gibbs. He explained that he'd mentioned both of their names several times throughout their conversation, and every time she heard Abby's name, she immediately tensed up and lost her focus. He'd also found out that Cathy had been asking around NCIS; fishing for information on Abby. What she'd found out was that Gibbs and Abby were close, and that the rumor was that she had left NCIS because of him.

McGee handed the photos he printed from Abby's email to Jenny and explained that the cellular transmission was made from an untraceable phone at 6:47 pm so he couldn't trace it in the traditional sense, but assuming that the call came from either Cathy's or Gibb's house, he scanned for phone calls made by prepaid phones from those sectors at that exact time. From those calls he was able to gather the electronic serial numbers of the phones and identify not only the manufacturer, but also where they were sold. In narrowing his criteria, he eliminated phones that had been purchased more than a month ago leaving him with only three. He started with the one purchased from a store that was closest to Cathy's house, and was reviewing video surveillance when Jenny suggested he focus on the last two days because if her gut was right Cathy's trigger was the day that Jenny told her she was no longer needed. Jenny was right; Cathy had purchased the phone the same night, and now they had her on video to prove it.

Ducky was the last to report in. He'd returned from the hospital and a meeting with Abby's doctor to inform them that the swelling in Abby's brain had begun to decrease, but was careful to inform them that not until she wakes will they have a full understanding of the effects of the accident.

Jenny was able to review the photos for the first time, and had come to the same conclusion as Abby; there was something wrong. She knew that McGee hadn't really examined them, and based on her conversation with Gibbs that he hadn't had the time to either, so she held them for herself not wanting anybody who hadn't already seen them to see them now.

There was absolutely no doubt amongst the team that Cathy was the perpetrator. They'd come to understand that she had drugged Gibbs, waited for him to pass out to take the pictures, and sent them to Abby hoping that it would upset her enough to not return to NCIS. When it was evident that the plan hadn't worked she took it to the next level by trying make Gibbs resign to cover her actions, and manipulate Jenny into retaining her as the head Forensic Scientist. They were confident in their assumptions, but at the same time they knew that it was all circumstantial evidence.

They wanted to nail Cathy for what she'd done, but needed to take their time to make sure that there was no way she could get out of it. They decided that the best place for them to discuss their plan of action would be outside of NCIS and headed to a local restaurant to formalize their plan.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Gibbs sat by her side with her hand in his in constant angst about everything, but only truly worried about her before drifting asleep. She'd opened her eyes a few times trying to register where she was, what was going on, and who the man sitting beside her was, and by the time she had made enough of a movement to startle him awake, she'd been awake long enough to process the situation.

His eyes, so full of sleep that they were lying to her about how much he had actually slept, stared at her in almost disbelief. "Abbs how…how are you feeling?" She smirked at him like she always used to before a wise ass comment "well, given my location, I'd say I've felt better. How 'bout you?" His heart smiled first at the return of the familiar woman beside him, but it was nearly instantaneous with his eyes. Before leaving, he bent down to her hand delicately placing a lingering kiss "I'm going to get the doctor, don't you move!" She thought for a brief second, and couldn't help herself "Gibbs! Gibbs!" she shouted as much as she could given her situation, and waited for him to rush back to the doorframe "Abbs!You Ok?"

"Wait for me! I'll race you!"

He couldn't contain his chuckle as he stood holding the door open "I bet you would, but Abbs, I'd let you win!" He saw the pucker of her lips as he shut the door behind him elated that his Abbs was back.


	26. Chapter 26

**Hope you enjoy!!**

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The doctor's news was good, and Gibbs held on to every word of it. The latest exam and test results seem to indicate that she would make a full recovery. She had a hell of a headache and every muscle in her body ached, but it seems as though she had escaped a bout of amnesia that many suffer after a head injury. She'd need to stay a few more nights in the hospital which she wasn't exactly thrilled about, but he could live with that.

He sat in the chair facing her interlocking his fingers with hers and began rubbing her palm with his thumb before he met his eyes to hers. She needed to know, "So, um…did you get the package I sent?"

He was hoping this conversation could wait a bit, at least until he'd had the time to figure it out, but in typical Abbs fashion she went right for the heart "I did, and Abbs, I can't explain it."

"Don't you mean you have no excuse for it?"

"No…but…I guess…I just don't know Abbs."

"What exactly don't you know? Those pictures don't leave a whole lot to the imagination?"

He couldn't stop looking at her, but didn't have an answer for her either, but before long it all just started to come out.

"I..I don't know anything about those pictures; why they were taken, or what led up to them. What I do know is that the woman I love thinks that I slept with another, and the only thing I can say to her is that I'm sorry she had to see the pictures of it. I can admit to sleeping with her, but I've already lost you, or I can deny sleeping with her but I've already lost you. So I've been sitting here praying for you to come back, to be ok, and for you to wake up so that when you do I can hurt you again because all I can tell you is that I don't know."

She started to process what he'd told her, as she watched his eyes fall to the floor. She knew that there was something off about the pictures, but needed to hear his version of the story before told him. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about him sleeping with another woman, but she was worried about him; he wasn't himself, and if she was anything to him, it was a friend. She tightened her hand around his prompting his eyes to find hers again "so if you're telling me that you don't remember sleeping with her, then tell me what you do remember."

"Don't worry about it, I need you to rest."

"Gibbs!"

"None of that matters to me now." Rubbing his face with his free hand he stood from the chair "Look Abbs, when you came in here I promised you…" he gently kissed her cheek "I love you" was whispered in her ear.

She grabbed his arm stopping him from returning to his seat and holding him in place leaning over her. "I heard what you said to me, I know about the promise, and Gibbs, this is me not giving up on you, so tell me what you remember!"

He was glad that she had heard him, hearing her say that she wasn't giving up on him was the best thing he'd heard in the last 24 hours, and it was enough to make him continue. "I left the office to come see you, but I stopped off for coffee and was heading home to take a shower first. I remember getting in the shower, and vaguely remember getting out. The next thing I know I'm dizzy as hell, everything is spinning, I've got a bitch of a headache, and I'm naked."

"That's it?"

"That's all I remember."

"So, where was Cathy in all of this?"

"The last time I saw her she was kissing my ass in the coffee shop."

"Did you take her home?"

"Absolutely Not! I left her sitting where she was! Abbs, I was coming to you!"

Her curiosity was definitely peaked as she wondered what he was going to say to her when he got there, but for now she'd leave it alone. "So if the last place you saw her was at your caffeine dealer, then how did she get into your house, and your bed?"

"I don't know if she came in or I let her in, but according to what she told Jenny I let her in and then assaulter her."

"Assaulted her how?"

He in no way want to tell her this, ashamed at what he's been accused of, but knows she's not going to let up. He let go of her hand and sits back in the chair and bolds his words with shame "she said I forced myself on her."

If she had any doubt that this was a farce, it quickly left her and the anger took her over. She reclaimed his hand with force "did you mean it when you told me that you loved me with every part of you?"

Tilting his head and squeezing her hand he says "I did, and Abbs, I do"

"Then I need you to hear me when I tell you that with every part of me I know that you did not do this!"

"Abbs I.."

"No Gibbs! Putting everything else between us aside, I know you, better than you know yourself, and I know you didn't do this!"

"Abbs, I've gone about so many things the wrong way lately that there's not much left that I can be sure of. I lost myself, and I lost you before I even knew I had you." He dropped his head, brought his elbows to his knees folded his hands in each other "I just can't be sure anymore." He never lifted he eyes from the floor when he said "Abbs…I resigned."

"I don't think I heard you right because it sounded like you said you resigned."

"You heard me right."

"Well, I hope you didn't plan on having any time off, cause you're not resigned."

"Abbs"

She began pulling her blankets back and trying to raise her head before spitting out "No! You didn't do this, and as soon as I get dressed I'm going to prove it!"

"Abbs! You're not going anywhere!"

"Watch Me!"

"Nope" was all he said before she felt the metal of the handcuffs against her wrist and the sound of them closing against the bed rails telling her that he wasn't kidding, she really wasn't going anywhere. "No arguments Abby! You're staying!"

"Gibbs can't you see that there is something wrong here?"

"Yes, you're not resting!"

"Damn it Gibbs, I'm not going to let you roll over on yourself like this. It's not going to happen! So either you sit here with me and figure out what the hell is going on, or I'll call security and have you thrown out so I can get out of here and figure it out myself!"

"Abbs, its done and over with, let's just concentrate on getting you well enough to get out of here, and that's not going to happen if you don't calm down and rest."

"Like hell it is!"

He was certain of two things: she was dead serious, and that he was about two seconds away from her screaming the word "security" and having him thrown out. He conceded "fine Abbs, but if we're going to do this, I need to know something first." They're eyes were in complete dead lock and she could see the tears begin to form as he struggled to get the words out. "Did you sleep with McGee to get back at me because you were angry about the pictures, or because you wanted to?"

Before she could respond the door swung open to reveal the smiling faces of Tony, Ziva, Ducky & Jen, and slithering in behind them was the petrified face of McGee. "Jethro, the doctor told us everything. How are you feeling my dear?"


	27. Chapter 27

**Thank you very much for all of the reviews...I hope you enjoy!**

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The Team finished shuffling through her door, and she looked past all of them until she saw Jenny's face in tunnel vision "he's not resigned" she says in elevated haste as she points at Gibbs.

Jenny was caught off guard by Abby's defensiveness, but began "Abby I have to…" Abby didn't like the direction Jenny's response was heading so she barged in "Director, with all do respect, I know with absolute certainty that he did not do any of things she's accusing him of, and if you were any friend of his you would know that too" she quickly ran her eyes across the rest of the team "you would all know it! The pictures are one thing, and I'll admit that I was fooled by them too until I took a closer look, but forcing himself on her, No Way! What were you thinking Director, how could you let this happen?"

Gibbs leaned up and put his hand on her arm "calm down Abbs, what's done is done, and you need to rest."

"What the hell is going on with everybody? Seriously! I take a bit of a nap and now Jenny believes Gibbs is capable of sexual assault, Gibbs rolls over and resigns instead of fighting, and McGee, don't you think for one second that I haven't noticed that you're hiding something." She paused for a minute to analyze his expression "I'll come back to you!"

Jenny took Abby's tongue lashing with patience, waiting for a good point to jump in so she could tell her, well, them, what was really going on. "Abby, Gibbs is still Gibbs; I haven't accepted his resignation." She ignored the burning sensation that Gibb's stare was causing "and I don't believe that he assaulted Cathy either. None of us do, and Gibbs is right, you need to calm down and relax."

Partly out of embarrassment, but mostly out of anger Abby reached for her blankets, and for the second time tonight tried to raise her head to get out of bed. Almost everybody in the room reached for her anticipating her next move. The restriction on her wrist stopped her forward progress and reminded her once again that she was not going anywhere. Gibbs didn't react; his only movement was the casual reaching for the keys to the handcuffs before giving them a slight shake at eye level with a smirk that only he was the master of.

Ducky has seen enough. "Abigail, if you have any desire to return to your enchantingly dark world I suggest that you remain as the doctors have ordered: STILL!" He'd gotten everybody's attention, and nodded his head to Jenny to continue.

Jenny filled Gibbs and Abby in on everything they had learned about Cathy, and informed them that they we still working on a plan to nail her when they got the call that Abby was awake.

Gibbs let Jenny finish and then promptly kicked everyone out. "That's enough for tonight, she needs to rest." Nobody argued as one by one they said goodbye to them both and left. Gibbs closed the door behind them and shut the lights off before returning to his chair. He'd barely sat down before she pushed the nurse's call button.

"Miss Scuito, can I help you" the nurse asked as she entered the room. "Gibbs, can you give us a few minutes, I need to have her help me with some…um…female stuff." Gibbs looked at her quizzically for a moment before he got the message "uh…yeah…I'll be right outside if you need anything." She needed him further away than that "a midnight snack would be nice if you don't mind. The shop down the street has the best brownies."

Like any man, he heard the words "female stuff" and was ready to sprint out of the door, so taking a walk down the street was absolutely not of the question. He handed the keys to the handcuffs to the nurse "she's an escape artist" before looking to her "I'll be back in a bit. Behave!"

It'd taken a bit of convincing and the promise of a date with Tony before the nurse agreed to rearrange her room enough so that they could fit a second bed along side her. The nurse handed him the keys back just outside her door "she really cares for you" was all she said as she opened the door for him.

Gibbs walked in bags in hand standing at the foot of her bed he begins to shake his head about to pitch a fit. "Before you say a word, I'm just going to state the obvious here: I know that you're not leaving, and I also know that there is no way I am going to get any rest tonight with you crammed into that little chair." He was too tired to argue. He pulled the brownies out of the bag along with the quart of milk he'd bought "it's not Jack, but it'll do." She chuckled, and would swear she could see the light bulb over his head when his eyes slanted, lips puckered, and he began nodding his head. "There was no female stuff was there?"

She never answered him. It wasn't long after they finished their eating that they could both feel the exhaustion setting in. He dropped his boots on the floor and climbed into the bed next to her. He rolled onto his side to face her and collected her hand into his "Abbs?"

"Yeah"

"This isn't exactly what I had in mind when I pictured what our first night together would be like, but I'm glad we're getting to have a first night even if it is our last."

She remembered the question he'd asked her before the team came to visit her this evening "I didn't you know."

He was confused "didn't what?"

"Sleep with McGee."

"You didn't?"

"No"

Letting go of her hand he rolled onto his back and stared through the dark at the ceiling "then why did you…then what's going on with the two of you"?

Looking at her hand and feeling the lose of his touch "I know that you're not getting this bothered because I told you we had one hell of a night, it wasn't even that, and I know that you know that, so where is all this coming from?"

"You're boy McGee" he says with an easily detectable amount of jealousy.

"My boy McGee! What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, Abbs, according to him you're his girl, which in my book would make him you're boy."

"He said this?"

"He did, and I know that I've got no claim to you, but why would you go back to him? All of this started because you said you wanted it all, and that you knew you couldn't have it with him, so what's changed? Why'd you do it?"

"So what you're telling me is that McGee told you that we were back together."

"Yes"

"Well, now I know what he was hiding earlier."

He could hear the hope in her words, but wasn't about to grab onto it until he heard her say it herself. "So are you saying that you aren't with him?'

"Look at me Gibbs." He propped himself up on one elbow and turned his face to hers. "What I'm saying to you is that I did not sleep with McGee, and that we are in no way shape or form back together, nor will we ever be. I'm not going to settle for what we had together when I know that there is so much more that I want out of a relationship; we both deserve better. I don't want him Gibbs, I want you, I want what we can have, but I don't know if you can handle that. I'm not going to be with you if it means that I have to give up my friends, my job, and my home, and I'm not going to be with you if I can only be with you when nobody is looking. I wouldn't settle for McGee, and as much as it hurts for me to say it, I'm not going to settle for you either."

He couldn't take his eyes off of her, with all of the craziness going on around him, this was all that mattered.


	28. Chapter 28

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Hey everybody thank you so much for all of the reviews...Hope you enjoy!

He was so lost in her strength and independence that he hesitated long enough to see the retreat beginning to form in her eyes. He never said a word as he leaned across her bed, closed his eyes and kissed her with every ounce of emotion he could muster. He felt her response immediately and continued his slow and gentle communication. He could see the exhaustion in her eyes when he pulled his lips from hers "I love you Abbs, I promise you that with every piece of me I love you, but you need to rest now. We can talk more about 'us' when you're well enough to get out of here." Neither one of them was thrilled about stopping, but it wasn't long after they did that sleep overtook them both.

Gibbs wasn't aware of the conversation she'd had with Tony while she sent him after the brownies, or the plan that she had forced him into agreeing to. She did know however that it was their best chance to catch Cathy, and that he'd never agree to it.

Tony played his part well; he'd convinced Cathy to come out with him tonight, and laid it on as thick as he could. He was confident that she'd taken the bait, enough so that she now believed him to be her coconspirator. He had her believing that he has as much resentment towards Gibbs as she does Abby, and for the same reasons; he wanted his job. They were up all night hatching their plan; they'd decided that the only way for both of them to get what they wanted was to get rid of Abby, which would push Gibbs over the edge.

While Gibbs and Abby were sleeping and Tony was on his date with Cathy, Jenny had notified the hospital of the situation, and McGee began to install the surveillance equipment in the room next to Abby.

Gibbs opened his eyes and immediately took comfort in her still figure lying in the bed next to him as he watched her sleep. It wasn't much longer and she was awake sharing the same sentiments.

"Morning Abbs, how do you feel?"

"Good Morning yourself, and much better thank you, but I think that you should go home now."

"Abbs I.."

"I'll kick you out if I have too."

He didn't want to leave her, but had no doubt that she'd kick him out, and he certainly could use a shower and a decent cup of coffee. "Alright Abbs, I'll go, but I'll be back in a couple of hours, and then you're stuck with me!"

She couldn't help but smirk at the thought, but needed to focus on getting him out of there so McGee would have enough time to install the video cameras in her room before Cathy showed up when the hospital staff changed shifts. "Sounds good, I'll see you then." Gibbs made his way to her bedside and gently kissed her forehead, and then her nose, and finally her lips telling her he loved her without a word. He breathlessly pulled away "I'll see you later." Abby was sure that if she was standing she'd have fallen over with the way he had kissed her, but she couldn't give into that now "see ya" was all she was able to muster as he turned to leave.

Gibbs had barely made it to the end of the hall before McGee barged in with equipment in hand and the rest of the team in tow. Jenny approached her first. "Everything is all set, Cathy took the bait, we will be right next door and will be able to see and hear everything that happens" Jenny reassuringly grasped her hand "if at any time you want out just push the nurse's call button and we'll be right here." Abby confirms with a nod as Tony approaches her "we're not going to let anything happen to you Abbs, we've got about and hour and a half before it all goes down, just try and relax."

"I'm fine Tony, maybe you're the one that needs to relax."

"Maybe so Abbs, but you're not the one who's going to have to deal with the wrath of Gibbs when this is all said and done."

"You've got a point" she wanted to lighten the mood "so Tony, are all of your affairs in order?"

She heard the snickers of Jenny and McGee and knew that Tony heard them as well "not funny Abbs!" he turned to McGee, "I don't know what you're laughing at McChicken, you do realize that he's going to kick your ass when all of this is over don't you! I mean seriously, you hit the man when he was barely conscious."

"Wait a minute…Timmy you hit Gibbs?"

Tony wasn't about to let this go "Oh he didn't just hit him, he throttled him, put him to the floor and hit him again! Abbs, you should've heard him bragging about it to us."

"Timmy?"

McGee wouldn't take his attention from the work he was doing to look at her out of sheer fear "look Abby, I didn't know that he had been drugged, and I was…I was pissed off!"

She was trying not to laugh, but the image of McGee starting a fight with Gibbs was at the very least hysterical "Timmyyy…I never pegged you for the suicide type. So tell me, what would get you so pissed off to make you think you should fight Gibbs?"

"Nevermind Abbs! We don't have time for this now, let's just focus on catching Cathy!"

Jenny broke in "McGee is right, we need concentrate on Cathy. We can deal with everything else later."

No way was she letting this go "McGee, when this is over, you're not only going to tell me why you picked a fight with Gibbs, but you're also going to tell me why you told him that we slept together!"

He knew he was going to pay for both of them as he heard Tony chuckle, "then I'll have something to look forward too then."

It wasn't too much longer before Tony chimed in "Abbs, the video is all set. If you want to back out now's the time, shift change is in 10 minutes."

"No, I'm good, let's do this!"

Tony leaned in and kissed her forehead "we've got you covered; you're going to be just fine. Remember to keep your cool, and we'll do the rest."

"I'm fine Tony, just go next door before she sees you!"

She was far from fine, furious and terrified seem to better describe her current state as she lay their waiting for Cathy's big entrance. It was exactly 11 minutes later that McGee's voice came over her earpiece "Ok Abby we have a visual, she just came out of the stairwell." Abby shut her eyes in anticipation "she's outside your door now" she heard the door open and the footsteps approaching her "relax Abbs, I'm right here with you, we're not going to let anything happen to you."

Tony and Ziva stood at the door in the neighboring room with guns drawn ready to rush in at McGee's signal. McGee's eyes were plastered to the monitor from Abby's room waiting for Cathy to make her move when he noticed movement in the hallway "Shit! It's Gibbs!"

Tony turned "what?"

"Tony, it's Gibbs, he's in the hallway heading towards Abby!"

Tony holstered his gun while mumbling "this is not going to end well" before entering the hallway to face Gibbs.

Tony displayed the universal signal for quiet with a finger over his lips and whispers "Hey boss, I need you in here" while grabbing Gibb's arm and persuading him into the room.

Once Gibbs was in the room, it didn't take long for him to figure out what was going on. He began to retreat back to the door "No! This is not happening like this!" Tony was plastered to the door blocking the exit with his eyes squinted shut and hands clenched into fists anticipating some form of pain "I can't let you leave boss."

Gibbs turned his frustration towards Jenny and before he could pelt her with his anger she pointed to the monitor for Abby's room directing his attention to it. "She's fine Jethro, she knows what she's doing."

He quickly evaluated the situation and knew that if he were to barge into her room now it would put her life in more danger than it already is, but he wasn't going to go silently into retreat "Jenny! You did this, and I swear if anything happens to her.." he was cut off by McGee "guys get ready, she's about to do it!"


	29. Chapter 29

**Thank you very much for all of the reviews!! Hope you enjoy!**

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Tony and Ziva stood with guns drawn waiting for McGee's word to pounce, while Gibbs and Jenny stood hunched over his shoulders as they all intensely stared at the monitors in anticipation of Cathy's next move.

She heard McGee say "Abby, it's almost over, just hang in there" as she felt Cathy grab her IV line. All of the thoughts and feelings she'd had about all of this consolidated into one as she secretly peered through the eyelashes of her left eye. She watched as Cathy pulled a syringe from the pocket of her nurse's uniform and plunged it into her IV with a smile.

The smile set her off. With everything that she had, in one swift movement, she sat up and brought her clenched fist across her body landing it square between Cathy's eyes. She watched in smug satisfaction as Cathy's lymph body fell to the floor.

Just as Cathy hit the floor Tony and Ziva stormed the room with Jenny and McGee only seconds behind. Gibbs stood in the doorway watching as Tony and Ziva lifted a shocked Cathy from the floor and while Jenny and McGee went to Abby's bedside, but just as he was about to make his way to her his eyes caught sight of the syringe still stuck in Abby's IV line. It was more than he could handle. He was thankful that the plan was a success, but was pissed at the implications it had, and his exclusion from it. He left the room unnoticed.

Abby sat flanked by both Jenny and McGee on her bed waiting for Cathy to be vertical again. She stood with nothing but intimidation and force and glared at Cathy as Tony and Ziva lead her from the room.

McGee nudged Abby back to her bed as Jenny was turning to the entrance "you see Jeth…"she headed into the hallway before turning back towards McGee "where's Gibbs McGee?"

"I..he was behind you."

"Huh…he must have gone to debrief the medical staff and get a doctor to check over Abby."

She could see the confusion on Abby's face "Gibbs was here, he saw this?"

"He came back to early; Tony had to pull him into our room so he didn't interrupt Cathy."

"He must've loved that."

If there was one thing that Jenny knew it was that Gibbs would've had a doctor in here by now, even if it was at gunpoint. "McGee, stay with Abby, I'll be back in a minute."

"Well, Timmy?"

"Well what?"

"Well, now seems like as good a time as any for you to start telling me what happened between you and Gibbs."

He knew it was coming, and that there was no sense in putting it off any further. "Long story short Abbs, I was trying to protect you."

"So somewhere in that MIT head of yours you thought that fighting Gibbs was protecting me?"

"I didn't go to him with the sole purpose of fighting him Abby, but when I got to him he was so nonchalant about it that it just pissed me off more. So I hit him."

"Nonchalant! Tim he was drugged!"

"I know that now, and believe me it explains a lot, but then, all I could see was how much he hurt you, and I wanted to hurt him just as much."

"It's not your place to defend me McGee, not anymore."

"Believe me Abby, I know that we're not together, and never will be again, but I still love you, and I can't just turn that off. That's why I told him that we were back together, and maybe part of it was jealousy, or wishful thinking, but I didn't want him anywhere near you!"

They sat in silence as she tried to take in everything that had happened "I'm sorry I hurt you Tim." Pausing momentarily she continued "don't get me wrong, it hurt like hell when I saw those pictures, and I love that you were there for me, but after I calmed down and really started to think about them I knew that something was wrong, and just before I left your apartment I sent them to him so he could figure it out."

She grabbed his hand causing him to look at her "I love him Tim, I guess I always have, and even though I really don't know where things are going with us right now, I need to know that you're ok with wherever it goes."

"and if I say that I'm not?"

"Then I say that I love you Tim, and I'll be here if you change your mind."

"Abby.."

"I love our friendship Tim, I love the person you are, the person you strive to be, and what you stand for. I love that you're there for me; I'd love the chance to be there for you, but I'm in love with him, and regardless of whether or not it works out between Gibbs and I, things between you and I won't change."

He knew that they had no future together anymore, but hearing her say it still hurt as much now as it did when she first told him months ago. He brought his hand to her face and thumbed her cheek "I know Abby, I know." He dropped his hand and head before continuing "when all of this first happened and it looked like the two of you would get together, I was happy for you, for both of you, and I would be again if it works out, but when I thought he hurt you I was angry at him, and I'll admit that, but I can't promise if he or anybody else does it again that I won't feel the same. I can't make that promise, and I won't apologize for it either."

"Tim, getting upset is one thing, but telling people we are together is another. I can't have you doing that anymore."

"Yeah I know that was pushing it a bit, but I didn't want him anywhere near you until you woke up and could tell him yourself."

"So, are we ok then?"

He stood and held his arms out to her before gathering her inside of them "yeah Abbs, we're ok."

She broke the hug and sat back down on her bed "have you talked to Gibbs about any of this yet?"

"Nope. It's not exactly high on my list of things I'm dying to do."

"You know Tim, maybe 'dying' isn't the right word to be using here."

He had to chuckle "you're right, maybe I'll just put in for a transfer."

They were both laughing as Jenny reentered the room alone. Abby immediately sensed something was wrong when Jenny's eyes caught hers "where's Gibbs?"

"I'm not sure Abbs" trying to change the subject "you're doctor will be in shortly to assess your condition and pull that phony IV line. You're in capable hands here, so I'm going to head back to the office."

She knew she was avoiding the subject, but wasn't going to let her off the hook "Director! Where's Gibbs?"

Jenny didn't want to have to tell her this, she knew how much Abby had at stake with Gibbs, and knew Gibbs all to well when it came to him being manipulated. She walked to stand in front of them "Abby, he's…he's gone."

"What do mean he's gone. Where'd he go?"

"I don't know Abby. He didn't go to debrief the hospital staff, he's not answering his cell phone, I talked to Tony, and he's not at NCIS, Ducky hasn't seen him, I sent agents to his house and coffee shop and he wasn't there." She didn't want to tell her the rest but knew she had too "Abby, his neighbors told the agents that he left with a small suitcase about 30 minutes ago. I don't know where he is but I'm left with the impression that he doesn't want to be found."

Abby felt her heart drop as McGee reached over to take her hand in his.


	30. Chapter 30

**Thanks for all of the reviews...I love reading them. For all of you who pm'd me asking me where the hell Gibbs went...here you go, I actually felt bad about leaving you all hanging so I wanted to get another update up quick...hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think.**

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His plane landed and by now it'd been hours since he'd walked away from her hospital room, and he wasn't sorry that he had. He was pissed, it's been one manipulation after another in the last few months and he'd had enough.

He's been pushed into an elevator with Abby, put into bed with Abby, drugged to hurt Abby, had his ass kicked because he was suspected of hurting Abby, accused of assault to hurt Abby, forced to resign from his job to hurt Abby, and sent away so Abby could be used as bait. He knew that some of them were done with good intentions, regardless of the outcomes, but it was time to put a stop to all of them. He was bringing her home, and with any luck home to him.

He walked into her apartment and instantly hated everything it represented. It was where she lived when she walked out of his life, where she put him in the past and started a new life without him, where he watched her kiss another man, but the thing that he hated the most about it was that he couldn't protect her when she was here. This was where Mowers got his second chance at her; he was watching her every move, he'd gotten so close to hurting her that he'd never forgive himself for not being there to prevent it.

He wasn't there long before the movers arrived and began packing her belongings in the frenzy of his direction. There was no playing around, he wanted out of this apartment as soon as possible. He wanted to get back to her.

McGee stayed with Abby after Jenny had left to return to the office; he knew that she wouldn't handle Gibbs walking away from her well, regardless of the façade' she put up for Jenny.

"Abbs, you know he loves you right."

"I do Tim."

"Then you have to know that he'll be back."

"Normally, I'd say that you were right, but maybe it was all too much for him."

"This is Gibbs we're talking about right. I mean come on Abbs, the guy is unbreakable. Gibbs wouldn't walk away from something because he couldn't handle it, he plow into it at full force.

"You don't know him like I do, he'd kill me for saying this, but believe me, he's far from unbreakable."

"He'll be back Abbs."

"Maybe he will, and maybe he won't, but I'm tired and I'm not going to sit here and try to rationalize his actions. They're his, and he's going to have to own them in the end."

He knew she was not ok with any of this, and if she wanted to pretend to be, he was going to let her. He was going to let her be whatever she needed to be tonight. "Ok Abbs, try and get some sleep."

She reached over to the bed beside her and patted the mattress "I'm not going to let you sleep in that chair either."

He took the hint and climbed into the adjacent bed "rest Abby, I'm right here." She reached across and grabbed his hand "you always are." He laid there silently with her hand in his as she cried herself to sleep.

By the time he'd gotten back to her room it was so early in the morning that he expected to walk in and find her sleeping, but he didn't expect to see him sleeping next to her, let alone holding her hand. He stood in a dark corner of the room for what seemed like hours staring at the two of them, partly glad that she wasn't alone, but mostly jealous as hell.

He noticed McGee's eyes open and struggle to focus as he stepped out of the shadows to her bedside.

"Boss?"

"Shhh!" He couldn't believe he was going to say this, but it was more for Abby's sake than his "go back to sleep."

Gibbs watched as McGee gently pulled his hand from Abby's grasp and slithered out of the bed to face him. "Boss, we…" Gibbs interrupted with gritted teeth "Outside McGee!"

McGee followed Gibbs down the hall to the waiting room, hoping for witnesses, but found none. Gibbs didn't give him the chance to speak before he turned to face him "the games stop now McGee! I don't care why you did it, that they weren't your idea, or even that you weren't the only one involved. I'm telling you that they stop now! All of them, they stop now!"

McGee can't remember ever seeing Gibbs so pissed, and to be honest was more terrified than he ever thought he could be, and Gibbs was showing no sign of letting up as he stepped so close McGee could feel his breath on his face. "What the hell were you thinking Tim! Why didn't you come to me?"

McGee's words were slow to leave his trembling lips "she made us promise not too. I wasn't going to let anything happen to her." McGee was starting to find his manhood again "I love her too you know, and if you think I liked using her as bait any more than you did then your dead wrong! I hated every minute of it! The truth of the matter is that if we didn't do it her way, she was going to go after Cathy on her own, and you know that as well as I do!"

Gibbs took a step back and sat in the seat behind him at the realization that McGee was right. Resting his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands McGee could see the toll the events have taken on him, and for the first time saw what Abby meant when she said that he was not unbreakable.

McGee took the seat beside Gibbs "I'm sorry Boss, for everything, I'm sorry." Gibbs tilted his head towards McGee "you still in love with her?"

"I am, and I'm not apologizing for that part."

"What are you planning to do about it?

"I'm going to love her loving you."

"What the hell does that mean?'

"I'm not going to lie to you Gibbs, I do still love her, and I am still in love with her, and I can't guarantee that that'll ever change, but what I can guarantee is that I want her to be happy. I think you could make her happy, but I'm not going away. I'm going to be here for her, for whatever she needs. So I'm going to be here loving her while she's loving you, and if you don't get your act together I'm going to be here loving her while she's loving somebody else."

"My 'act' is fine!"

"You didn't see the look on her face when she found out you left, and you weren't the one holding her hand when she cried herself to sleep trying to figure out why!"

"She that upset?"

"You really are clueless aren't you!"

"McGee!"

"Of course she's upset! She doesn't think that you're coming back! She did all of that for you! She put her life on the line for you, and didn't even so much as look at her when it's over, let alone stick around long enough to find out if she was ok. You just walked away! Do you have any idea how hard that was for her; to just lie their and wait for the woman who wants to kill you to come and try? I mean really, you didn't say a word, you just walked away! Why do you keep walking away from her?"

"I went to take care of some stuff."

"I don't care what you went to take care of, you should've been taking care of her!"

"I'm not going to sit here and justify my actions to you, but make no mistake about it, I was taking care of her, and I still am! It's not your job anymore!"

"You made it my job by walking away!"

Gibbs made it into the hallway before McGee grabbed his arm to stop him "if you love her like I think you do, you'll find a way to fix this for her; to be there for her, and damn it stop turning your back on her!"

Gibbs pulled his arm from McGee's grasp, and stepped into his face "you had God's good graces on your side the last time you touched me, and if you do it again you'll be standing at his gates!"

They left in opposite directions as Gibbs headed back to her room.


	31. Chapter 31

**Thanks to everybody for the reviews, I love them. For those of you requesting sequeals, I'm working on it. Anything in particular you'd like to see? Hope you enjoy!**

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After his conversation with McGee he made his way back to her room and slowly opened the door to peek inside making sure she was still asleep. He decided he'd take advantage of the time and would run home quickly to clean up in hopes that she would be awake when he returned.

He'd been gone a little over an hour before he made his march down the hallway to her room again. He knew she was upset at him for leaving, and after some consideration knew she had every right to be. He shouldn't have left, but he hoped that when he told her where he had gone and what his plans were that she would forgive him so that they could put an end to the madness of the last few months.

Just as he made it to her door it swung open to allow the doctor's exit. Gibbs gave him the customary nod as he entered her room to see Ducky standing behind the wheelchair ready to guide her and her belongings from the room.

He was momentarily caught off guard, he had no idea that they were releasing her today, but was grateful that they were.

He locked into her eyes and could instantly see the hurt, and instead of addressing it, he says "Hey Abbs! You ready to get out of here" as he rounds to the back of the wheelchair "Duck, I'll take it from here."

Ducky never let go of the wheelchair as he let his eyes fall briefly before raising them again so full of disappointment. He squared his shoulders to Gibbs "my friend, I do wish you had handled this differently."

Gibbs stood stunned as Ducky began wheeling Abby out "Duck?" He only needed to take two quick strides before he stepped in front of the chair halting its motion. He squatted down to Abby's eye level putting his palms on her knees "Abbs, I.." was all he was able to get out before Ducky interrupted "Good God, Jethro not now! Let her be!" Gibbs could sense the anger, and see the sadness in Ducky as he stood to let them pass.

He watched as she was wheeled away from him, and the realization that she hadn't said a word to him left him useless. He'd made his way to the door way and watched as Ducky turned her chair around and pulled her into the elevator. He could see the disappointment in her eyes from where he was standing as they locked eyes until the doors closed.

He just stood there, frozen, as if he was waiting for the elevator doors to reopen and for her to run into his arms. He still had a few hours until the movers would reach DC, he'd told them to deliver her stuff to his address. That was the plan. His eyes never left the elevator doors as he reached for his phone to give the movers the address he didn't want to; hers.

He was waiting outside of her new apartment for the movers to arrive thinking of what he should do next. He thought briefly that he should give her some time to process everything, some space, but damn it, he'd had enough of the waiting. He had no doubt about what he wanted and needed, and up until this morning thought that she had felt the same. He was kicking himself for not taking the time in the hospital to solidify things, to make her his, to erase any doubts that they were together.

McGee was right, he walked away from her; again. He knows what he was trying to accomplish by moving her stuff home, but why wasn't the fact that she was here good enough, why didn't he just walk into her room and hold her, be there for her? He didn't have time to answer that question before the movers pulled up.

Ducky had settled Abby into his guest bedroom and as he turned to leave he saw the tears forming in her eyes. "Abigail?"

"I'm fine Ducky, I would like to be alone now if you don't mind."

Ducky walked to her side and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder "I'm here if you need me" before turning the knob to leave.

"I don't even know why I'm crying Ducky, I'm not hurt, I'm pissed!"

"I won't hesitate to say that you are both my dear, and rightfully so if I may add."

"Why Ducky?"

"Well, because he hurt yo…"

"I don't mean that why, I mean why did he do it. Why now?"

"I'm sorry to say that I don't have that answer for you dear. Why does Jethro do anything?"

Ducky decided that after moments of silence that it was time to leave her alone; time to let her try and figure out what happens next.

It'd taken longer than he thought it would for the movers to finish, but once they did he didn't waste anytime getting Ducky on the phone.

"Jethro"

"How is she Duck?"

"If you're asking me how she is medically I'd say she's come along rather splendidly, but if your referring to matters of the heart, I'm afraid my report won't be as glowing, but I suspect that you're fully aware of that by now."

"I need to see her Duck, is she up for it tonight?"

"To be frank, I'm not sure she'll ever be up for it, but you should probably ask her yourself. I'll bring the phone to her, but I won't per sway her in either direction Jethro."

"I understand Duck, and thank you."

Ducky rounded the corner to the guest bedroom and as he peered through the open door he was surprised to see her angrily pacing across the room. The tears were gone; replaced with anger. "Oh dear" Ducky whispered "you're certainly going to have your hands full my friend" before entering her room.

He'd admit that even he was a bit frightened by her appearance "Abigail, the phone is for you."

"Who is it?"

"It's Jethro, he'd like to speak with you." He didn't know whether to gracefully hand her the phone and slowly retreat backwards out of the room or just toss her the phone and run. He decided on the first as he covered the mouthpiece with his hand "I'll be right downstairs if you need me."

"Abby. You there?'

"I'm here."

Ducky was definitely right, she was pissed, and as much as he was focused on the task at hand, he couldn't help but be turned on by her aggression. Pushing those thoughts out of his head, "can we talk?"

"I don't know, can we?"

"Abbs!"

"Gibbs!"

"Can we do this face to face? Can you come over to my house?"

"I don't know Gibbs, let's see…um…yeah…you'd be about due to turn and run by the time I got there, so No! I'm not coming over there."

She was acting like an ass, and she knew it.

Every part of him was beginning to get frustrated, every part except for one, the part that if released might as well have been saluting her it would be standing at such attention. He wasn't surprised by it thought, because she'd always had a way of getting all of his attention when she was pissed.

"Abby, I'm not going anywhere!"

They could hear each other breathing, but no words were spoken and just as she was about to hang up he angrily breaks in "I know I fucked up Abby, but do you want to deal with this or not?"

"I think a better question is do you? Are you capable?"

"Abby…please!"

She never answered him before she hung up the phone.


	32. Chapter 32

**Two chapters in one night...don't know what's come over me...hope you enjoy!**

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After about an hour she descended the staircase to meet Ducky in his living room. It'd taken her that long to get ready; there was no way she was going anywhere without a shower after just being released from the hospital. "Hey Duck man, can I borrow your wheels for a bit?" He could tell that she was unsettled about her decision to go, but held out hope that that would change by the end of the night regardless of the outcome. If there was one think Ducky had no tolerance for it was loose ends. He reached in his pocket and tossed her his keys "no rush" was all he said with a sympathetic grin.

She caught the keys and headed to the door "thanks Ducky."

Ducky never got off of the couch, preferring the casual approach "Abigail, I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Jethro a while back."

"Which is?"

"Simply that it's time. It's time to either fix this or end this. One way or another, it's time."

She was curious now, or maybe just looking for additional fuel for her rage "and when exactly did you tell him this?"

He saw right through her but was truthful nonetheless "on your birthday." He saw her wheels turning and knew she was remembering everything that happened that night "now Abigail, don't go looking for trouble where there isn't any."

She knew he was right, not that that was really her style anyway. She went back to give him a hug "thanks for keeping me grounded Duck man!"

"Anytime dear and good luck."

Gibbs was stewing in his basement after she hung up on him, and if she wasn't at Ducky's he'd already be banging her door down. He'd decided that given how pissed she was, and now how pissed he was that it was probably for the better right now anyways. He still stewed. That is until he heard a car pull up.

He was motionless, listening for activity, trying to figure out if the car had pulled up in front of his house or his neighbors. He heard nothing, no front door closing, no footsteps in the kitchen or on the stairs to the basement. He went back to stewing, until he heard the knock on the door.

He quickly brushed the sawdust from his clothes and bound up to the kitchen two stairs at a time. He never bothered with the peephole; it had to be her, nobody ever came to visit him.

He opened the door ready to greet her, "would you like to buy some cookies mister?" He dropped his head to the three little girls on his stoop, took a deep breath, exhaled, and dug into his pocket giving the girls his money and telling them to keep the cookies.

He leaned back into the house to shut the door when he saw her. She was leaning against the car on the opposite side of the street. Neither of them moved, they just stared out at each other afraid to take the first steps.

Gibbs broke stance first by walking down the porch steps. She followed his lead making her way across the street to meet him in the front yard. They stood a few steps apart as if they were strangers, but all they wanted to do was reach out for each other.

"Will you come in?"

She couldn't help but hesitate briefly, as soon as she saw him she wanted to touch him, and that wasn't what tonight was about. "Lead the way."

"Coffee?"

"Whiskey!"

He brought the two glasses and the bottle of whiskey out to the living room; he should've known it'd be a whiskey night for her.

"Abby, Abbs, I'm glad you came over, I didn't think you were coming after you hung up on me."

"I wasn't!"

"What changed your mind?"

"I haven't changed my mind about you, I'm just as angry with you now as I was then, but Ducky made me realize that I should at least listen to your excuse and make my decision from there. So, I'm here, what's the excuse?"

"I don't have an excuse Abby, I shouldn't have left."

She could feel her walls starting to crumble just by being this close and alone with him. She was bound and determined not to give into it. She downed her glass of whiskey and stood to leave. "I've listened, and I do believe that I owed you that much, but if we are going to remain friends after this, I need to go now before I say something I can't take back."

"What the….Abby! Friends.."

He reached for her hand as she passed him in the chair "Abby don't go." She stopped with his hand on her arm and turned to look at him "you mean don't do to you what you did to me. That's mighty ballsy of you don't you think?"

He stood to meet her eyes, "yes, if that's what you want me to say then yes, don't do what I did to you!"

She stepped closer into him with red moving into her face "that's just it Gibbs! That's the problem right there! I don't want you to say what you think I want to hear, or what anybody else tells you to say! I want you to say what you mean, nothing more and nothing less! I never would've pegged you for a coward Gibbs!"

He stayed the distance and returned the shouts matching the redness in her face "I've meant every word I've said to you Abby! If you want to play that game, why don't you take a look in the mirror!"

"What!"

"Oh don't look so surprised Abby! You have no fucking idea what you want out of this do you. One minute you can't live without me, and the next it's the 'friends' word, I mean really, two nights ago you were telling me how much you loved me and wanted to be with me, and now, today, you can't stand to be in the same room with me! So which is it Abby, do you love me, or do I repulse you." He took that final step into her "Which…Is….It!"

She returned his aggression and voice octave "that is such BULLSHIT Gibbs! If you remember correctly it was me who stood right in this room months ago in an argument very similar to this telling you how I felt, and it was you who turned your back on me. Two nights ago I did tell you how I feel, and surprise surprise you walked away again. Did you ever stop to ask yourself why it is that every time I tell you that I want to be with you that you run away! Why is that Gibbs! It was YOU who couldn't decide what you wanted then, and it's YOU who doesn't know what you want now! So don't talk to me about playing games when it's obvious that that's exactly what all of this has fucking been to you!"

He was furious and wasn't about to back down now "all I've been trying to do is fix this between us, and like an idiot I thought we had until you decide somewhere in that head of your that it's a good idea to use yourself as bait to catch Cathy. Do you have any idea what it felt like to have to watch that, to see that syringe hanging out of your IV, to know that after everything we said to each other that night that you didn't trust me enough, that you'd rather lie to me than face it together. So you're right, I did leave, and maybe I shouldn't have, but me leaving had absolutely nothing to do with you telling me that you wanted to be with me, or me not knowing what I want. Make no mistake about it, I know what I want, I've told you want I want, and nothing has changed."

He reached for the bottle of whiskey and took a swig from it before passing it to her to do the same. They both stood silently as the processed what the other had said or rather screamed.

He reached for her hand and slowly slid his fingers through hers before making eye contact. The words "I'm sorry" were said in unisonbefore he gently pulled her into a hug. "Stay with me Abbs, tonight, be with me?


	33. Chapter 33

**Sorry it took so long for an update. Had some things come up, but I'm back now. Thank you for all of your reviews…they're great and keep me going. **

**For all of you who have asked for a continuance or sequel, here we go.**

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Her hesitation to pull away and head towards the door was nothing short of an outward indication that her defenses had just fallen to the floor. She knew it, and he wasted no time letting her know that he knew it too as he lowered his lips to hers.

The kiss started out slowly, both of them allowing their thoughts of insecurity and rejection to hinder their passion. It wasn't long before neither had the capability to think. The kiss intensified. All of their thoughts had dissipated allowing the moments to become driven by nothing other than raw emotion and pure necessity.

They stood entwined in each other, lost entirely to their surroundings. He held her hip with one hand and the back of her head with the other as he pulled her in tighter to slide his hand from her hip to around her back.

They broke momentarily and she never moved her hand from his hair as she traced his jaw line with wet seductive kisses. He tilts his head giving her better access and lets a groan escape while she encompasses his larynx with her tongue as she continues down his neck and back up to give slight tugs to his earlobe.

He tosses his cell phone to the couch and does the same to hers before he bends to lift her into his arms while repossessing her lips as he moves to lock the door. He carried her through the living room, into the kitchen to knock the phone off the hook, and up the stairs through is bedroom door before he gently places her on the edge of his bed.

Kneeling between her knees in front of her, he reaches for the side of her face with his right hand and wraps around her hip with his left. She can see the emotion begin to build in him.

He looks directly into her eyes exposing his soul "Abigail Sciuto, I love you..."

She silences him with her finger across his lips "Show me."

He was happy to oblige. He reached for her hand and stood her up before lifting her again and placing her on her back in the center of the bed. He took up residence to the right of her lying on his side and swallowed in her curves.

He moved his lips to hers again teasing them with his tongue before passionately kissing her. His hand began his exploration of her; an exploration he'd dreamed about so many times.

He slowly ran his fingers down her side feeling every rib on the way down. He slipped his hand under the seam of her shirt memorizing the feel of her skin as he worked upward towards her breasts.

He heard her moan through her lips and felt her shift under him and he cupped her right breast taunting her nipple out of hiding. He took his time massaging both breasts while he buried his face in her neck tracing her neckline with his tongue between kisses.

He sat her up and straddled her to pull her shirt over her head and unclasp her bra with one flick of his wrist.

She followed suit and pulled his shirts over his head exposing his chest to her for the first time. She was enamored by it as she began running her fingers through his hair and down to his waistline. He saw the ecstasy in her eyes when she felt him through his pants.

She unhooked his belt and pants and slid down his zipper before sliding her hand inside to cup and rub his hardness through his boxer briefs. He grinds his hips towards her hand whispering her name before he pushes her shoulders back to the bed and begins to take her breasts into his mouth paying equal attention to each nipple.

He could feel her skin tighten when he slid his hand over her stomach to her core slowly trailing a finger over her thong back and forth between her lips feeling her heat and moisture immediately.

She shuttered at his retraction when he moved his hand to the zipper in her skirt. She reached to grasp his hardness when he pulled away to stand at the end of the bed and remove the rest of her clothing. She watched him; every move he made.

Neither of them realized that they were staring at each other, lost in the anatomies they've never seen before.

She stared at his defined chest, broad shoulders, muscular abs, and his definitely harder than a rock erection as she watched him remove the remainder of his clothing. He was absolutely gorgeous

He never took his eyes off of her; overtaken by the beauty of her form, the peeks of her breasts, the length in her shapely legs, and tenderness of her skin. She was perfect.

He started at her hips and ran his hands down the length of her legs separating them at the ankles and kissing the insides repeatedly as he made his way back to her core. He could smell her need as he settled above her.

She wrapped her legs around his calves giving herself better leverage before pushing up into him as he bent down to claim her lips again. She could feel his dick between her thighs as she ground her hips up and down coating it with her wetness.

He began to move with her barely conscious at the sensations it created. She recognized his vulnerability and took advantage of it; she flipped him onto his back to straddle him.

He could feel her heat on his stomach, and when she reached to hold his need in her hand he couldn't stop the moan from escaping as he gasped for air, closed his eyes, and bucked into her hand.

She was still stroking him when she lifted herself onto him and took him inside of her. She rode him down slowly gasping when he hit her cervix.

He moved his hands to her hips as she began her movements. She started slowly; letting him come completely out before taking him in again. She arched back to cradle his balls in her hand and she increased the pace

He felt her pulsations as she took him ball deep; she'd surrounded him like he'd never been surrounded before. She was flawless.

He was pulling her hips into him with every downward thrust she made watching her breasts as they followed the movements.

He could see the sweat begin to glisten off of her skin and knew she was most likely as close to falling off of the edge as he was. He flipped her off of him and onto her back.

Her surprised look didn't go unnoticed, and neither did his grin.

He entered her with purpose and began driving into her at a pace that neither had ever experienced. She pulled her leg up and over his shoulder pushing him deeper inside of her.

She was beginning to tremble and could feel it rising. She felt him run his thumb over her clit and exploded into orgasm gritting her teeth as she moaned his name.

He felt her go over the edge and her muscles tighten around him. Hearing her say his name like that rendered him useless to fight it any longer. He lost control and filled her with his hot fluid as he continued to drive into her.

He slowly pulled out of her and collapsed down next to her pulling her into his embrace.


	34. Chapter 34

**I've been on a super long hiatus...but here we go with the new chapters. For all of you who have sent messages asking me to continue...thanks, I appreciate them all, and now that I'm back I'm here to stay.**

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He was happy. There was no better word to describe the way he felt as he was curled tightly around her naked body in his bed, enveloped in the memories from the night before. He'd done what she asked of him, what he'd wanted to do for so long, he'd made love to her. Fast, slow, rough, gentle; he'd shown her how he felt, his actions removing any remnants of doubts his words left behind. She was his, and he was most definitely all hers. Happy.

Happy, until he heard the knocks on his front door.

Carefully detangling himself from her, he threw his jeans on before casting one last look ensuring she was still asleep. He made his way to the floor below before answering the door with murder draining from his eyes.

Holding a cup of coffee in her hands "Good morning Agent…" Michele Lee trips on her tongue when her eyes meet the bare chested man "umm..I mean good morning Agent Gibbs."

"Agent Lee, there had better be a damn good reason you're rapping on my door, and you have 30 seconds to tell me what that is" he growled

"Yes sir…I mean Gibbs…I mean Agent Gibbs."

"20 seconds."

"Assistant Director Vance, sir…he sent me…he hasn't been able to reach you. You haven't answered you phones."

"10 seconds."

"he ummm, he asked…"

"Time's up" Gibbs stepped back out of the door frame to shut the door. Surprised when it wouldn't shut, he looks to see Lee's foot preventing it.

"It's Director Shephard sir, she's dead."

Gibbs swung the door open flooded by memories he shared with Jenny

"how?"

"It was a gunfight in California, Agents DiNozzo and David are there now with Vance sorting out the details. He sent me to find you when he couldn't reach you. Sec Nav has his private jet on the tarmac waiting for your arrival sir."

He reached for the coffee in her hands and shut the door on Agent Lee, his patience had expired. In a cloud of anger, hurt, fury, and devastation, he grabbed a shirt, his shoes, cell phone and keys before closing the door behind him and making his way to the airport.

Abby began to stir, rolling over and pulling the blankets up to her chin. Drifting into consciousness, her first thoughts reminding her of last night; the love-making, the tenderness, the roughness, the orgasms, and knowing for the first time exactly where she stood with Gibbs.

It didn't take long for her to realize she was alone, that his side of the bed was cold. She tried not to let the disappointment settle in her stomach as she made her way to the bathroom. She tried, but by the time she made it downstairs and to the front door it had began to settle. Looking out the window to an empty driveway had turned it into a rock that had no problem settling in the pit of her stomach.

Admittedly, she was stunned; the last thing she expected to feel this morning of all mornings was loneliness. Before drifting off last night she had no doubt that he wanted her, and wanted her for the long haul. She comforted herself with that thought, and after doing so, it didn't take her long to come up with a few reasons why he may have had to leave, the job being number one, but what she couldn't find reason in is why he wouldn't tell her he had to go.

She made her way back upstairs talking to herself the entire way "why didn't he wake me? Or leave a note? Even he isn't so out-of-touch to know that leaving a woman to wake alone in an empty house after a night like that can make her think he has regrets. He has to know that right? I mean not even a note, really? We're so going to have to work on that."

She'd gathered her things and made her way back to Ducky's house for a shower and change of clothes settling on the thought that he must've been called in to work a case, and that she'd take it up with him when she saw him.

She'd found out from McGee shortly after arriving at the office that he'd flown to California for a case, but it wasn't until a few hours later that Ducky got the call from Gibbs and told them that Jenny had died did she realize the severity of it.

She knew the history between Gibbs and Jenny, and knew he still cared for her as much as she did. Jenny had become a great friend and ally to her, so hearing of her death was just a traumatic for her as him. She tried calling him several times throughout the day with no luck, he wasn't answering his phone. He'd called Ducky, and she'd called Tony, and with his assurance that Gibss was ok, she knew it was just a matter of him not answering.

She'd gone back to Ducky's house for the night, and by the end of the night with several voicemails and text messages left unanswered, she was pissed. She wasn't asking him for a long drawn out dissertation of the case, or even an explanation as to why he hasn't responded to her, she just wanted to hear him say he was ok. She wouldn't reach out to him again.

He'd boarded the plane and reached for his phone to call Abby but decided against it until he knew more details. He knew how close the two of them had become, and he hated to have to give her the news, but giving her the news without any details would be complete torture to Abby. The last think he wanted to do was leave her this morning, he had so many plans for them today, none of them included leaving the house, let alone him going anywhere without her, least of all across the country.

As happy as he was this morning, all of his focus now needed to be with the case, and Jenny, and he knew that Abby would understand that. He hoped she'd understand that. At least that's what he was thinking before meeting Mike and finding out that Jenny died protecting him, and before he made the call to Ducky asking him to tell Abby and McGee that Jenny was gone.

All he could think about now was that he hasn't been with Abby twenty-four hours yet and his biggest fear has become a reality. She was in danger because of him, and that he could loose her just like everybody else he's ever loved. It'd taken him years to admit his feelings for her, and to take a chance to be with her, to put himself in a position that could leave him in as many pieces as he was when he lost Shannon.

He had to stop this before it went to far. He couldn't save Shannon or Jenny, but he could save Abby. The realization that she was going to hate him for it stung and burned a hole right through the heart of him, but it needed to be done. He was going to have to destroy her to save her, and he'd do it without hesitation. It was that conclusion that had him ignoring her calls and messages, and why he decided that Ducky needed to be the one to tell her about Jenny. He'd do what he needed to do, but hearing her voice while doing it was something he couldn't do today. He needed her to be pissed at him first.

He slid under the covers in the hotel bed replaying all of the tribulations he and Abby have endured to share what will end up being one night of unforgettable passion. It was a tough road, so much heartache and emotion. Eyes wide open, and no where near sleep he's trying to wrestle his feelings for her back into submission, back to where he knows they need to be, where they have to be.

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**Hope you enjoy! TBC...soon**!


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